Defending Narcissa
by NishaNight
Summary: Young lawyer, Padma Patil, finds herself working with Theodore Nott, and he drudges up a past that may be better forgotten. Padma/Theo with some Alicia/Oliver, Parvati/Neville.
1. Chapter 1

Padma stepped quickly through the rain carrying her briefcase and a large paper bag filled with delicious Chinese food for herself and Alicia. She was feeling so happy that she had ordered extra food intending to indulge this evening.

The hearing had gone better than Padma had expected, and the Wizengamot had granted her a whole month to work on constructing a defense for her new client, Narcissa Malfoy. With Narcissa's former Death Eater status, and the pervasive ill will towards the name Malfoy, she had expected no more than a week. Though, she supposed, her own war hero status might have had something to do with the Wizengamot's leniency.

Truthfully, she had taken the case because no one else would. Padma knew that Draco had seen three other lawyers before coming to her and they had all politely refused. He had a look of desperation, leaving the case to a Wizengamot appointed defender would surely mean his mother would rot in Azkaban for the rest of her life. She had accepted the case immediately, believing that everyone deserved a fair trial. She knew that the Daily Prophet would have a field day with whomever decided to defend Narcissa in this case, but was hoping her own impeccable record would offer her some protection.

The case was a sensational one. Narcissa Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban for only three years after the war was over and was going to be shortly released. After a public outcry of unfairness in allowing such a prominent Death Eater to go free after so short an imprisonment, the Ministry had worked hard researching her case and come up with a new charge. The Daily Prophet headline had read: NARCISSA MALFOY, PROMINENT DEATH EATER, TO BE CHARGED WITH MURDER OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.

Padma's outer robe was soaked by the time she stepped up to the sign reading 'SPINNET & PATIL, MAGICAL LAW' outside their office on Diagon Alley. She climbed the stairs quickly and opened the door to their office. Spotting Alicia sitting at her desk across the room, she said "I got a whole month, can you believe it?", as she divested herself of her soaked outer garments. "We have a real chance now. I got us Chinese to celebrate."

"That's great," Alicia said somewhat stiffly. Only then did Padma realize that there was someone else sitting next to Alicia's desk. She was about to apologize when Alicia interrupted, smiling nervously, "I have good news too. I've finally found us a clerk."

Since they had accepted the case, they had found it near impossible to hire any help, and Alicia had just solved that problem. Things were looking better and better, Padma thought as her smile grew. She grabbed the bag of food as she walked over to meet the new clerk. He wasn't as young as she'd expected, more their age. Maybe he's changing careers, she thought to herself. "This is great, I'm Padma Patil," she said holding out her hand. The new clerk looked at it for a second and then reached out and shook it hesitantly. In the dimly lit office, she hadn't gotten a good look at his face until she was only a few feet away shaking his hand. He had pale skin, light brown hair, and somewhat worn chiseled features. He was tall and more muscular than when Padma had last seen him, but their was no mistaking who he was. He wasn't just close to her age, he was exactly her age. Her voice shook a little as she proclaimed, "Theodore Nott."

The new clerk finally spoke. "Yes, that's me."


	2. Chapter 2

Theo had walked up the stairs of Spinnet and Patil solemnly earlier that afternoon. If he could have found a job anywhere else, he would have, but so far no one seemed willing to look past his history. One night, while having drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, Malfoy had suggested that he apply here. "Those girls are all idealistic, they'd give anyone a chance," he had said.

"I'm not sure Patil will be willing to give me another chance," Theo had murmured. Draco had looked at him questioningly, but Theo had said no more about it.

Now he found himself face to face with Alicia Spinnet. Since he had last seen her, her black hair had been straightened and cut short, giving her an older professional appearance, even though she couldn't be more than twenty-four. She wore an expensive looking dark suit, which added to the effect. She smiled at him nervously and asked. "Well, I read through your application letter, and you certainly have all the qualifications necessary for the job. Mr. Nott, why are you interested in a career in law?"

Why indeed, Theo thought to himself. Providing the real answer was out of the question, and would likely scare the girl out of giving him the job. So he said, "It seems like an interesting and stable career."

"All right," Alicia said nodding. "Well, I'm sorry but I have to ask. Do you think your time in prison will effect your ability to do this job?"

And there it was, the elephant in the room. Theo was pleased Alicia had asked about it directly, at least it gave him a chance to provide an answer before he was dismissed. "I can't change my past," he said solemnly. "Even though I've been out for two years, I know I'm not quite normal. But I think I'll be able to do the job."

Alicia smiled slightly and nodded. "I think you'll find that most of us that lived through that time are not quite normal." She paused for a second then continued. "I'll be honest with you. Since Padma took the Malfoy case, we haven't received many suitable applications, and so despite your background, I'm inclined to hire you. However, because of the case, we'll also be under a lot of scrutiny, with the Daily Prophet sniffing around. Your past may get rehashed if Rita Skeeter feels like it. But I need to know that you'll be able to weather it. I also need your word that you have no other secrets that could be discovered and reflect poorly on us or adversely effect our work."

"I've already been tried and convicted for everything I've done," Theo stated calmly. "I can take it if the Daily Prophet wants to talk about it all over again."

"All right then Mr. Nott. I guess, I should say welcome aboard," Alicia said with a smile. She stood up and shook his hand. She talked to him for some time about the rules of the office and the work he'd be doing.

She quieted when the door opened, letting in a cold draft and a wet-looking hooded figure. He stopped breathing when he heard her voice. She was talking excitedly about something as she pulled back her hood to reveal her face. she was more beautiful then he remembered, without the tired pained look that was constantly plastered on her face during their last year at school together. She pulled off her cloak and was wearing her legal robes underneath. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a bun, but with wet tendrils now falling forwards to frame her face. She was walking towards him with her arm outstretched. He panicked when he realized he had no idea what she had been saying, but shook her hand.

He felt shame welling inside as a look of fear briefly overtook her when she recognized him. She dropped his hand and excused herself as she ushered Alicia into the adjoining conference room and closed the door. This was a terrible idea, he thought to himself. Seeing that look on her face instantly brought back painful memories.

_Theo watched as Padma, Parvati, and Seamus dragged Neville's passed out bloody body out of the classroom. The two petite girls struggled, but stubbornly refused to pause or look back for fear that Carrow would take away permission for them to get Neville back to his dorm and force them to just leave him in the hallway. Later that night, as Theo had made his patrol, he caught Padma sneaking towards the Gryffindor common room. Despite the tired bags under her eyes, she still managed to look beautiful. "Where do you think you're going?" he had asked harshly._

_"Nowhere, I was just going to see my sister." She said quickly. He looked down and saw a potions bottle and charmed bandages in her hand, which she quickly stuffed in her pockets. So she was going to go help the idiot Longbottom who just couldn't stop being a bloody nuisance. Theo didn't get it. Longbottom was a pureblood for Merlin's sake. _

_"Fine, but if I see you again, you'll have a detention with Filch." She stood stock still, in disbelief that he had let her off so lightly. It had been obvious she was about to go help the number one rebel in all the school. Why had he let her off? Even he didn't truly know. "Go," he said angrily. And she took off down the hallway, but not without first looking back at him once and giving him a slight smile._

_After that, he had caught her one more time, this time picking up a note left by Ginny Weasley. They had been extremely secretive, Ginny had slipped a note between two books in library and ten minutes later Padma had gone to retrieve it. No one would have noticed, except Theo had found himself watching Padma for long stretches of time. He followed her as she went outside and sat under a tree. She opened a book and began to unfold the note behind it's pages when Theo approached her. "What does it say?" he asked sternly._

_She looked up alarmed. "It's a herbology book."_

_He frowned, "Not the book, what does the note say?"_

_"I don't-", Padma had started but Theo reached down and grabbed the note. TONIGHT 9:15 BRING WILDFIRE._

_He looked back up at Padma, "What does that mean?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"I'm not an idiot. And you should stay away from that bunch if you know what's good for you." He looked angrily at her scared face. And then suddenly she relaxed and held out her hand. _

_"Can I have it back?" He looked at her disbelieving for a few seconds and then seemingly against his will handed her the note. She got up and walked away, giving him a shy smile. _

_What the hell did I just do? He thought. I'm a fool, colluding with blood traitors now. For what? A few smiles from a pretty girl? _

_The next morning they all woke up to giant slogans painted all over the school that read 'HARRY POTTER WILL DEFEAT VOLDEMORT'. Theo frowned to himself, knowing that Padma and her secret note had something to do with this. The slogans were magically so well painted that only Snape was able to remove them one by one. The Carrows didn't even bother looking for evidence, but quickly rounded up Longbottom, Weasley and Finnigan in the Great Hall during breakfast. They made an example of them by having student volunteers repeatedly cast Cruciatus curses on the three culprits. Theo immediately volunteered, eager to prove to himself that he was part of the pureblood fold. He couldn't help but look over at Padma who was tearing up as she watched her friends suffering. She's a blood traitor and a fool, Theo thought. Soon it was Theo's turn to torture Longbottom and he looked up at her one more time. A tear slid down her cheek as she looked at him and shook her head disbelieving. Theo felt a pang of regret but immediately hardened his resolve as he cast his curse on Neville. I've been acting a fool, he thought, but not anymore. _

_And he hadn't. He had avoided even looking at Padma for the remainder of the year, but knew she had spiraled down, deeper into Longbottom's inner circle. She had become increasingly rebellious against the Carrows and received detentions and torture sessions nearly every week. He told himself he was glad he had rid himself of his ridiculous fascination with her._

_But then the Battle of Hogwarts had happened... _

Theo's musings were interrupted as Padma and Alicia came back into the office. Padma's expression now no longer betrayed her initial reaction to seeing him. "Would you like to stay and eat dinner with us?" she asked casually. "We often work late, so dinner here together is a pretty regular thing."

Theo agreed to stay, and relaxed as they ate dinner, and the two girls talked mostly about work, while he didn't say much. He learned that Alicia was engaged to Oliver Wood and Padma's sister Parvati was engaged to Neville Longbottom. Padma didn't offer any information about herself. As they talked, it became clear to Theo that Padma and Alicia were the best of friends and not just colleagues.

He left that evening actually looking forward to work the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Padma was outlining the Malfoy case for Theo who was trying hard to focus on her words. "The ministry is claiming that Narcissa is responsible for Dumbledore's murder because of the Unbreakable Vow she extracted from Severus Snape. The vow ensured that either he or Draco would commit the murder."

"But what about the fact that Snape's the one that actually did it?" Theo asked.

"That doesn't change the fact that Narcissa commissioned the murder. It's a lot like hiring a hitman, but worse because he has no choice but to perform the deed."

"But Snape took the vow willingly," Theo said still confused.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. That still is unclear. In any case, the ministry will first have to establish that Narcissa performed the Unbreakable Vow demanding Dumbledore's murder from Severus Snape. And second, they'll have to establish that the Vow was the reason that Snape killed Dumbledore. In order to have a chance, we'll have to disprove one or both of these assertions."

Theo nodded reviewing his notes. He was impressed by Padma's ability to simplify and break down a problem. No doubt this is what made her a good lawyer. She smiled at him as if able to read his thoughts.

"Remember that our goal here is not only to uncover a good argument for our clients, but also to convince others that our argument is valid. To do that we have to break down the argument carefully and consider all the angles by which it can be attacked. Believe me, nothing is worse that standing in front of the Wizengamot while the other lawyer makes a point you hadn't considered or presents evidence you didn't know about."

Theodore then asked a question he had been itching to ask her. "Sometimes though as you consider all the evidence you must come to the conclusion that your client is in fact guilty. What do you do then?"

"I tell them that I think we'll lose. Sometimes they get another lawyer, sometimes they choose to concede their guilt and accept their punishment." Padma looked pointedly at Theo for a moment and he flushed slightly before focusing back down on his notes.

"I want us to spend the next couple of days researching the first point, Narcissa committing Snape to the Unbreakable Vow. I'm taking the lead on this case, and Alicia will be helping, but she won't be free for two more weeks because she has another case. I will be glad to have your help," Padma said smiling slightly, just as she used to in school.

"Of-of course," Theo stuttered out. "How do we start?"

"Well first things first, I think we'll need to talk with your old mate Draco. He is after all the reason his mother took the vow."

They spent the next few days pinning down all the details Draco could provide. Both his mother and Severus had told him about the vow in detail. While his aunt Bellatrix had seemingly bullied Snape into it, Narcissa at least had entered the vow of her own free will. Worse, after entering the vow she seemed to have done nothing to warn Dumbledore of his likely murder. Things weren't looking great for Padma's client, but at least there were mitigating factors, like the fear for her son's life and the aid she gave Harry in the end, that would probably reduce any sentence she would receive.

On Friday evening, Padma returned to the office with a large box of documents floating in front of her. "This is all the testimony gathered regarding Severus Snape to certify his Order of Merlin status. Alicia and I are going to try to go through it over the weekend. I hate to ask since you're new here and all, but since we don't have much time, would you be willing to work with us? You'll earn overtime and all that, but please don't say yes if you have other plans."

Theodore replied swiftly, "I'll definitely be willing to help. Shall I just come in tomorrow at the regular time?"

"Oh no. Alicia is coming to my house tomorrow after lunch. Oliver deserves some time with his lovely fiancee," Padma said smiling. "I live in Daisy Cottage at Godric's Hollow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Theo said slowly, leaving the office for the night.

"Bye," Padma said, her nose already buried in a pile of documents.

As Theodore walked towards Padma's place the next morning, he was pondering how strange it was to be spending so much time with her. And now he was going to her house. True it was only for business, it wasn't like she'd invited him over for dinner or anything. But still, it was like they were two complete strangers getting to know each other as they worked together. When she talked to him she never let on that they had any sort of past history, and he had simply followed her lead. He suddenly wondered if that first day, Padma had asked Alicia to Obliviate him from her memory when both had gone into the conference room. She wouldn't have done that, would she?

Padma's home was named perfectly, Theo mused as he approached her front door. The home had several large windows, with large sills holding various pots and stacks of books on the inside. The cottage was small and covered in ivy. The entire front garden was covered with blooming flowers, particularly daisies. Theo spotted several magical plants interspersed in the colorful riot. He walked up to the door and knocked. He waited a minute or two with no answer, and then knocked loudly once more, beginning to wonder if he'd gotten the time wrong.

Finally, the door opened. "I'm so sorry," Padma said excitedly. "I stayed up late last night reading the Snape documents, and I over-slept." Padma was pulling her long wavy hair back into a bun somewhat frantically as she spoke. She was dressed in a red tank top and extremely worn looking old baggy pajamas that fell low on her hips. Theo stared at her frazzled appearance for a few seconds before starting to chuckle. "Come in, come in." She said blushing slightly. "I'll be right back." It was funny, but somehow she looked even more sexy in her worn out old pajamas then when she was all dressed up for work.

Padma shuffled back into the house, towards her bedroom. When she emerged ten minutes later, she had showered and cleaned up, but was wearing a different pair of worn looking loose cotton pants and equally casual shirt. Theo looked at her clothes and arched an eyebrow. "Well if I have to work from home on the weekend I don't see why I can't dress comfortably. No one is going to see me anyway," Padma said defensively.

"Excuse me, aren't I a person?" Theo said, acting offended.

"Well, you don't count. And why are you so over-dressed?" Padma asked, looking over Theo's suit.

"Alicia said we had to dress professionally at work."

"Yes, but not on weekends."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"By the way, Alicia isn't going to make it. Oliver was injured during his game yesterday. He broke his leg. The medical staff mended it, but she's going to have to stay with him today while he recovers." Theo nodded as he realized how much he enjoyed casual conversation with Padma. It felt so comfortable. He took off his jacket and tie and relaxed into a chair at her table, as they both started to work.

Several hours later, they began understanding the complicated story of how Snape and Dumbledore colluded in his murder. Snape seemed to be the hero, unwillingly murdering his mentor so he could get into Voldemort's inner circle.

"Doesn't the fact that Dumbledore and Snape plotted his execution help us at all?" Theo questioned, as he rubbed his head, trying to digest all the information they had dug through.

"I don't think so. A reasonable person would assume the actual execution came about because of the Vow. The fact that Dumbledore told Snape to use it to gain Voldemort's trust could just be them taking advantage of a bad situation. Although, I'm not really sure." Padma growled with frustration as she looked through the window. "Oh great, it's already dark outside. I need a break. Let's go make a snack," she said as she walked towards the kitchen.

"I could go for a cup of tea. Would you like some?" Padma asked as she started the pilot light on her old stove.

"No, I've preferred coffee since Azkaban."

Padma flinched slightly at his words, but said, "I'll make you a cup of coffee then", as she rummaged in a cupboard looking for coffee.

Theo smirked, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the coffee..." Padma said puzzled.

"Stand back a second," Theo said drawing his wand. Within moments he had summoned the coffee, sugar, and milk to the table, heated the water, put out the stove, summoned two cups and brewed both the tea and the coffee. "Milk or sugar?" he asked Padma. "Just milk," she said. He quickly finished their drinks and returned all the ingredients to their proper locations, even tidying up Padma's cupboard as a finishing touch.

"Geez, you're such a show off," Padma rolled her eyes and smiled in spite of herself. "You always were ridiculously good at charms in school." This time it was Theo's turn to flinch. So she hadn't Obliviated her own memory after all. "How about you make us some sandwiches now, bread's on the counter and turkey, veggies and dressing are all in the fridge."

Theo smirked, but did as he was told. Soon they were back at the table sharing their meal. Padma stole a few glances at him but didn't say anything. After a few minutes Theo finally said, "What is it? Do I have food on my face or something?"

"No it's just...I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but working on this case...it just makes me think about that last year of school" Padma said biting her lip nervously. Theo sighed and waited for her to continue.

"I just feel like such a fool sometimes. I mean, how could I not see it? How could I not see that Professor Snape was on our side? Did you know that I hated him. HATED him. Whenever I served my detentions with him, he'd force me try to defend myself. Then he'd break through my defenses and hex me. And he'd laugh and taunt me. Tell me how weak and pathetic I was. And I believed he received some sadistic pleasure from it all. But the whole time he was teaching me how to protect myself. I see that now. It probably saved my life in the Final Battle." Padma choked up a bit now. "I should have been thankful. But do you know what I did? I wished for his death, prayed for it." Tears were beginning to pool in Padma's eyes as she quieted.

Theo felt like he should do something but had no idea what. So he sat there frozen. If she felt this sort of guilt over her own rather innocuous actions what did she think of him and all he had done? A few tense moments passed before a loud knock at the door broke the silence. Then the door suddenly opened and a bubbly voice started talking, "It's just me Padma, I brought you your dress for next weekend." As the owner of the voice rounded the corner, Theo recognized Parvati, so similar to Padma but slightly taller, with her hair cut shorter. There was something more easy going and feminine about her, whereas Padma had a more refined classical beauty. Parvati stopped dead when she spotted him and looked positively livid. She quickly glanced at her sister's eyes which were still swimming with tears then looked back at Theo and growled, "What the hell are you doing here?"


	4. Chapter 4

Padma moved quickly to intercept her sister who looked ready to punch Theo. "Theo's just here for work Parvati, he's working for the firm now."

Parvati looked stunned. "And you didn't tell me?"

Theo suddenly found his voice while quickly grabbing his jacket and tie. "I'm sorry Parvati, I'll leave."

Padma followed him towards the door. Everything had gone so embarassingly badly. First she had lost control of her emotions and almost started crying, in front of her clerk no less, and now her sister had gone and yelled at him. Not that she had expected any less from Parvati. There was probably no one in the world that despised Theo more than her. "I'm sorry about this." Padma said regaining her composure. She looked up into his hazel eyes and couldn't help thinking of how much more handsome he'd become over the years. He'd grown taller and more muscular, but what really got to Padma was the serious thoughtful edge to his face, like he had seen too many facets of life for a man of only twenty-two.

"No need to apologize. Tell your sister I'm sorry for everything that happened back then." Theo said softly while casting a shield on himself and stepping out into the soft drizzle that had begun to fall.

"Don't worry, she knows. I don't think she's as mad at you as she is at me." Padma said softly as she reached out and unconsciously patted Theo's shoulder. He looked down at her hand and Padma quickly withdrew it. What the hell am I doing, she wondered.

"I'll see you Padma," he said and began walking away. Padma felt like a colossal fool as she closed the door and went back into the house. Parvati stood there, arms crossed in front of her chest, her eyes demanding an explanation.

"Don't look at me like that, Paro, he's just clerking for Alicia and I. And Alicia is the one that hired him," Padma said defensively.

"And you think this is a good plan, do you?" Parvati launched back. "I get that you have your principles Padma, I really do. I know you believe that everyone deserves a fair trial and a second chance and all that. In fact I respect you for it. But sometimes, it doesn't have to be you that gives that to them. Sometimes you have to look out for yourself first."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Padma asked.

"It means that being around Theo is a terrible idea Padma," Parvati argued, frustrated. "You were so messed up over him four years ago, and truth be told you still are. You can't have a stable relationship like the rest of us, and you've buried yourself in your work for years."

Padma silently fumed over her sisters words. They were so hurtful, but the problem was, and even Padma knew this, Parvati was right.

"Being around him is going to drudge it up all over again. Gods, despite all the atrocities we saw during the last battle, do you know what sticks in my mind? What still gives me nightmares? It's the look on your face when I found you in that hallway, covered in blood and dust, with him."

Padma grew quiet, wishing her sister hadn't brought that day up.

_Padma stood nearby in total shock. Harry had just defeated Voldemort. After several moments tears of joy and relief began streaming down her face. It was exactly what they had all been working for and praying for, but somehow she had never quite believed it would actually happen. She looked around and saw Parvati across the room. They ran towards each other and the two sisters hugged one another so tightly they could barely breath, relieved that both had survived. _

_"Thank the gods you're okay," Parvati said looking over Padma's face. "You're bleeding."_

_"It's nothing," Padma said wiping away the blood that was dripping down her temple from a minor wound on the top of her head. "I'm fine, really."_

_Just then Neville came running up to Parvati and lifted her up while hugging her. Then he set her down and kissed her passionately. Padma backed away, slightly embarassed, as she witnessed this moment between her sister and her boyfriend. Padma turned to seek out their other friends. It was only after several minutes of scanning their immediate vicinity that she realized Seamus was not there._

_Padma heart filled with fear. All around her people were mourning the loss of loved ones that had died. Where was the boy that had become one of her best friends these last few months? She hurried to alert Neville to his abscence. "I'm not sure where I last saw Seamus. It might have been in the fifth floor corridor," Padma said._

_"I thought I saw him on the grounds," Hannah added somberly. _

_"No, I'm pretty sure I saw him near the entrance to the dungeons," Lavender said._

_Neville quickly assigned everyone a portion of the castle to look for Seamus. Padma was to go to the fifth floor where she thought she last saw him. "Don't worry the Aurors are starting their own systematic search for any survivors in a few minutes. I'm sure we'll find him," Neville spoke reassuringly, but Padma knew he was extremely worried._

_Padma took off running towards the fifth floor, pausing here and there to check bodies that were slumped on the floor for signs of life. So far, no survivors. It was all so horrible, but she had no time to think about it, and pressed forward. She finally reached the corridor where she had last seen Seamus. There were at least five bodies littering the floor, covered in dust and rubble. The first one she checked was definitely dead, still wearing a Death Eater mask. The second was lying face down with a heavy block broken across his back. Blood was pooling beneath a limp arm. Probably still alive, Padma thought. She levitated the block off and carefully turned over the body. "Seamus! Oh god Seamus!" Padma screamed. _

_She quickly checked his pulse. "Still strong," she muttered to herself, as she checked him for injury. He was bleeding a lot through a cut on his arm and she quickly tore off a piece of her mostly shredded white school shirt to create a make-shift tourniquet. Then she cast her Patronus to send a message to Neville. She continued cleaning his wounds for about a minute, while talking to him, trying to revive him. _

_She was leaning over Seamus, examining his chest, where it looked like he may have a broken rib, when suddenly she was yanked back around the waist and slammed against the nearest wall. Her head and back hurt from the impact and the bruises she had already accumulated that night. She had left her wand next to Seamus. Stupid, stupid, she thought, I let my guard down like an idiot. She looked at the wand pointed at her face held by an arm bearing a dark mark. A strong hand gripped her by the throat keeping her pushed against the wall. She tried to think fast for the best way to defend herself. Keep talking she figured, Neville and Parvati would be there soon. Then she looked into the face of her attacker, and her heart began beating wildly while her throat constricted. He's never looked so terrifying, she thought as she looked into Theodore Nott's face. He looked pristine in his still black robe, not cut up and bruised like everyone else. He probably didn't fight, Padma realized._

_"Theo," she said softly, unconsciously reaching out for him._

_"Don't," he commanded gruffly and she withdrew her arm. He was shaking, his face contorted in fury. He stared at her angrily for what felt like a long time. _

_"Theo, it's all over. Harry killed Voldemort. The battle is finished," Padma said quickly, hoping the shock of the news would cause him to loosen his grip on her. _

_"I already know." He growled. "And now I have nothing left. That dead body you ignored on your way to your precious Finnigan. That was my father." He said pressing his wand against her chest as she struggled to get free._

_"I'm sorry," Padma said softly, a tear slipping down her cheek._

_Theo grinned crazily. "What the hell for Patil? He was a murderous Death Eater. You probably wanted him dead."_

_Padma remained quiet for a few moments before saying, "Still he was your father. You'll miss him," and then ceased her struggle against his grip. _

_Finally he asked angrily, "Why? Why couldn't you idiots just leave it alone? Why did you have to make it come to this?" _

_Padma paused. Oh gods, how she had adored Theo earlier that year. No use dwelling on that now, she chided herself. He was a criminal. Still she couldn't stop herself from feeling sorry for him, wanting to comfort him. "Don't you see Theo, we're all free now. Even you. You don't have to be a Death Eater anymore." _

_She gazed cautiously at his face. Her body tensing, waiting for his reaction. He said nothing for what felt like ages, but she didn't break eye contact. She needed to divert his attention for as long as she could. He was clearly unstable and Padma thought he might harm her at any moment._

_His eyes narrowed and then suddenly he was frantically pushing his lips against hers. She was shocked, afraid to move or react. He increased the fierceness of the kiss and dropped his wand to cup her face. His skin felt gritty against hers and the kiss tasted metallic. This is my chance she thought, without his wand she probably could fight him off. But instead her body betrayed her mind and she relaxed her lips, letting them soften under his aggression. He gasped at the change, but continued to kiss her, his tongue slipping momentarily between her lips. And then his hands were sliding down her arms, caressing the skin on her left arm where her sleeve had torn off. Her cheeks began to feel wet. He was crying she realized. She pushed him back to look at him. Anguish contorted his features, and he had stopped breathing. Her blood, dust, and tears were now streaked across his face. His knees gave out and he fell downwards clutching at her waist while he continued to sob._

_Padma breathed a sigh of relief, he probably wouldn't kill her after all. She placed her hand on top of his head, running her fingers through his honey-colored hair, offering him her own form of absolution. After everything that happened between them this year, they both needed some sort of closure. Not that Theo even remembered half of it, Padma thought. _

_"I need to go help Seamus," Padma said quietly, breaking free of Theo's hold. She moved towards Seamus' body. He was moaning slightly now, starting to come to. "Thank the gods," Padma muttered as she used her wand to remove the dust from his eyes so he could open them. "Seamus, it's Padma. Harry won, and help is coming. Just hold on a little longer, okay?"_

_Footsteps of at least three people could be heard close now, coming up the staircase. The sound meant security, help, and order restored for Padma and Seamus. She looked around at the half-destroyed hallway. This will all be repaired, and then it will be as if none of this happened. Theo will be hauled off to Azkaban, she knew. Fifteen minutes ago they had been on opposite sides of a fight. Everyone free to destroy as much of the other side as they liked. Not now, not anymore. There was nothing like a battlefield after a battle. All aggression spent, no norms left to govern their behavior. For a few more moments, they were truly free, no one to judge them. _

_Padma quickly moved to Theo and kneeled before him. She knew she had just seconds left before the outside world intruded on them again. She frantically ran her fingers through Theo's hair while kissing him all over his face. He clutched at her when she began kissing his neck. Truthfully, she had no idea what he was feeling, but she was devastated. They had won, and she should be elated. The problem was she felt too connected to Theo not to see his pain, not to see how he had become the Death Eater and criminal he was. She had wanted something else for him, but he had made his choices. _

_"Take care of yourself Theo," Padma said crying as the voices and footsteps neared, only seconds away now. _

_She could hear Parvati and Neville tending to Seamus now, but as if at a distance. Then a strong hand clapped onto Theo's shoulder. She recognized the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt as he hauled Theo to his feet and magically bound his hands. He said something to Theo but it was all a haze to Padma now. Parvati was kneeling in front of her, holding her hands, and saying something._

_"Padma, are you okay, you look terrible, what happened?"_

_What happened? Padma's heart had broken again. Spectacularly. Theo had kissed her, held on to her, desperate for some sort of salvation from her. But she could offer none. Padma had made the colossal mistake of setting her heart on someone like Theo. He had always been on a path that would lead to this moment, surrounded by the dead and being led away for judgement, and he had refused to stray from it. _

_Parvati could see it all on her sister's face. Despite everything that had happened, her sister had been in love with the bastard. Foolish, foolish Padma. _

Parvati moved towards Padma and brushed loose hairs gently from her face. "I'm just worried about you Padma. I don't want you hurt all over again. I know it's been four years, but I need to be sure. You're definitely all right with working with him?"

Padma considered the question carefully then nodded. "It was weird seeing him again, but Paro, really all we do is work. There's no reason to think anything is going to happen."

Parvati sighed, "Please tell me that you don't want anything to happen."

"Honestly, I haven't even thought about it."

"Good," Parvati said relieved. "Because if you cry one more tear for that stupid boy, I'll kill him. Now, on to more important matters, I brought you the saree for the engagement party next weekend."

"Stay tonight, will you Parvati? You'll be married in a few weeks, and I've missed you since you moved out," Padma asked.

"Of course," Parvati said hugging her sister. "I'll just owl Neville and let him know."


	5. Chapter 5

Spending the evening gossiping with her sister provided an increasingly workaholic Padma with badly needed stress relief. She woke up on Sunday eager to tackle her research on other cases involving Unbreakable Vows. While the spell wasn't illegal, it had been abused for centuries.

Padma found little in the stack of twenty or so cases she had perused that would help Narcissa, but she didn't have time to consider them all thoroughly. A good task for a clerk, she decided, and subsequently found herself stepping off the Knight Bus, slightly nauseous, near the Nott estate. She staggered a little up the lane towards the gate as the clouds above parted and the setting sun became visible. The house was large, not nearly as big as Malfoy Manor, but at least ten times as big as Padma's own small cottage. She could feel herself passing through a magical ward as she went through the gate towards the front door, next to which a several broomsticks were leaning against the wall. A house elf had opened the door anticipating her arrival.

"Hello," Padma said smiling. "I'm here to see Theodore Nott."

"Follow me," the elf said turning.

"No, no. Uh, what's your name?"

"Winkle."

"Winkle. I don't need to come in. I just need to deliver something to him, and I'll be going. Can you just tell him Padma Patil is at the door?"

The house elf gave Padma an uncertain look and then apparated away. She waited a minute or so before seeing Theo and Draco walking towards her, both dressed in formal dinner robes, both looking exceedingly handsome.

Padma realized now she could here a faint hum of voices from deep inside the house. She blurted out, "Oh gods, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to drop off some cases for you to look over. But don't worry about them until tomorrow. I also wanted to ask you a question Theo."

Draco looked at Padma, smirking. "Well it's good to see you working so hard on my mother's case. We were just about to have dinner, would you like to stay?" Theo said nothing, but looked at his friend quizzically.

"No no, it's okay." Padma said quickly looking between Theo and Draco. "I don't want to impose. Please get back to your dinner. I needed to go to the office anyway."

"I bet you'd stay for dinner at Spinnet's house," Draco prodded.

"Well probably yes, but me and her are good friends," Padma answered too honestly.

"And you and Theodore can't be friends?" Draco openly teased while Theo glared at him.

"No, of course we can," Padma said, unaccustomed to being so flustered.

"So you'll stay for dinner then," Draco said giving Theo a significant look.

"Yes, you're very welcome," Theo finally added.

"Well," Padma hesitated, "I'm not really properly dressed." Padma said looking down at herself. She was wearing a khaki shirt dress that looked nice but very casual and a large comfy grey cardigan she had owned since she was thirteen. Her hair was in a single plait, just as she had worn during her school years.

"That's true," Draco said, "But take off that ugly sweater and you'll be tolerable."

Padma smiled at first thinking he was joking but then realized he was serious. Winkle appeared to relieve her of her stack of files and sweater. "Thank you Winkle." The elf, Theo, and Draco gave her a curious look.

"This way," Theo finally said. Padma noticed Draco smirking at him, sharing some private joke. Padma followed along, through Theo's large and tasteful, though slightly medieval-looking home. He ushered her through a grand entry to what must be the dining room, with his hand on the small of Padma's back. Already uncomfortable with the situation, the small amount of contact almost made Padma jump. When she saw all the assembled guests, Padma stopped dead. Dear gods, I'm in a viper's den, she thought. There was Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, Astoria and Daphne Greengrass, and Adrian Pucey, all turned toward the door, all formally dressed.

"We have an unexpected addition to our little party. You all remember Padma Patil," Draco said introducing her. I am a grown woman, I can do this, she thought. She got a few nods and hellos, and a few blank stares, as she moved to sit at the table between Pansy and Draco. An elaborate dinner promptly appeared once they were seated. Padma spent most of the meal updating Draco on progress with the case. The food and wine were delicious. Once the plates were cleared a light dessert of fresh fruit and cream appeared. This is perfect, thought Padma, who rarely had such elegant sit down meals. She looked up and shot Theo a smile, who looked relieved for some reason and smiled back.

Pansy turned to her then. "So Padma, I hear you're a lawyer. Aren't you a bit young to be practicing on your own?"

"Yes, I am a bit, but I apprenticed with Davids and Bluesky as soon as I was out of Hogwarts. I was able to learn very quickly there and passed the Ministry Law Exam last year."

Pansy nodded smiling. "And isn't your sister marrying Neville Longbottom soon? I thought I saw it mentioned in the Daily Prophet."

Padma nodded, wary of Pansy's line of questioning. "Yes. They'll be married in few weeks."

Pansy laughed sarcastically. "You'll have to excuse me, but I just never thought Longbottom would actually date, let alone get married. I mean he always seemed like such a loser at school."

"Yes I used to think so too," Padma said blushing slightly. "But now I bitterly regret ever judging someone so harshly without really getting to know them. He's probably the bravest, sweetest, most selfless person I've ever met. There's no one I'd rather have as a brother."

A hush spread across the table as Padma stared at Pansy, almost daring her to say something else. Finally Astoria broke the silence, "Well a lot of us have changed since we were seventeen. I mean look at Teddy and his sudden desire to be a lawyer."

"Astoria..." Theo looked at Astoria, his eyes pleading with her to shush.

"What? It's interesting. I see, you don't want your boss to know," Astoria said nodding in Padma's direction.

Padma's curiousity was definitely piqued. "Don't want me to know what?"

"Why Teddy wants to be a lawyer. Well, ever since school, Teddy has wanted to be a wandmaker, being a Charms prodigy and all. Then last year he got an opportunity to apprentice with this famous wandmaker in Germany. And we're laying in bed one night, and he just starts talking about how he can't do it. He can't go to Germany."

Padma flushed at the thought of Theo and Astoria together. Why do I care, she thought. Oh god, Theo's looking at me, he sees me blushing, he thinks this is freaking me out.

"Astoria and I broke up a few months ago," Theo said abruptly.

"Ahhh...thanks for the announcement Teddy, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows I dumped your sensitive ass." Astoria said rolling her eyes, while most of the table laughed. "Anyway, it turns out that the master had sent Teddy an owl with a list of subjects for him to study, and it included the Dark Arts as part of his training which is what freaked Teddy out. He went on and on about how he can't trust himself around temptation and how he's not sure he can tell right from wrong. And how maybe he needs to do something else; recenter himself and figure things out. Blah blah blah. Anyway, I tried to help him take his mind off things, so to speak, and hoped he would have regained his senses in the morning." Astoria paused briefly to laugh while Theo turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. Padma desperately prayed that the anger she suddenly felt towards Astoria was not founded on some misplaced jealousy. "But it only got worse. By the time I woke up, he wanted to be a lawyer. Was willing to forego his prestigious apprenticeship. Teddy thought it would help him develop 'better instincts'."

At this point Theo, who looked decidedly embarassed, chimed in. "I just want to force myself to make better decisions than I have in the past. I don't want to end up on the wrong side again."

"I would think being an Auror or Magical Law Enforcement would be better for that," Gregory said.

"The ministry isn't so interested in hiring convicted felons," Theo said flatly.

"Well it turns out that neither are most law firms," Astoria continued. "Bad for the image I guess-no offense Padma. I'm still hoping Teddy comes to his senses and realizes his conscience works just fine."

"Leave him alone Astoria," Draco said seriously. "I for one have made decisions I regret. Looking back I wonder how I could have been such an idiot."

"I agree with Astoria," Padma said shocking the audience. "None of us should let what happened back then cripple us forever."

After a few moments of tense silence, Blaise spoke up. "Merlin, this is getting boring. Let's go flying."

Soon everyone pushed back from the table and began moving towards the door. Padma looked down at her watch, ten o'clock already. After making her way over to Theo, Padma said, "I had better get going to the office. Thank you very much for dinner."

"Are you sure you won't stay? We're just about to fly down to the shore for a bit," Theo asked.

"No, that sounds fun, I do love flying, but I have some important paperwork to finish," Padma said, genuinely disappointed. She didn't often get to fly, but she had always found it exhilirating.

"I'll walk you to the front door then." They lagged behind the crowd as they made their way towards the front entrance, where house-elves were waiting with dark warm cloaks for everyone.

"I actually came to ask you an important question. I'm going to visit Narcissa at Azkaban tomorrow. I would like you to come with me, it's better to have two sets of ears at these interviews, but only if you feel comfortable. I don't want to pressure you into going back there." Padma waited for Theo, who had grown quiet, to respond.

"Yes, of course I'll come."

"That'll be great. Dinner was delicious by the way. Did one of your house-elves prepare it?" Padma asked while donning her sweater.

"Yes, Maple I think it is."

"I would like to thank her if that's all right."

Theo shot her an amused look, "She will find it a little strange. Maple, come over here," he said gesturing to one of the elves in the hall.

A smallish elf, positively shaking with timidity, crossed over to them. "Yes Master," it said in a voice pathetic even by house-elf standards.

Padma quickly bent over and patted the elf's hand, "My name is Padma Patil, and I just wanted to compliment you on the delicious meal you prepared. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you."

Maple looked up at Theo, nervousness mixed with confusion on her face. "That'll be all Maple," he said and Maple withdrew swiftly with a slight smile on her face. "I hope you're satisfied Padma, I'm quite certain she won't sleep tonight, thanks to your singular attentions."

"I guess Hermione Granger has rubbed off on me. One last favor Theo, can I use your Floo if you have one?"

"I do have one, but I'm out of Floo powder. Can't you just apparate to the office?" Theo asked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"I can't apparate actually. I'll just catch the Knight Bus. See you tomorrow," Padma said making for the front entrance.

"Wait, why can't you apparate?" Theo said stepping in front of her. "I distinctly remember you passing your apparition test."

"I used to be able to, but after a session with Alecto our last year, I lost the ability. The healers at St. Mungo's told me it's a side effect of a particularly nasty curse."

"I'm sorry," Theo said quickly. "Let me take you."

"No, please, it's no problem. Besides you have other guests."

"I insist. Draco, I'll be right back." Theo said nodding to his friend, who arched his eyebrow back in acknowledgement.

Padma moved in close to Theo and held his arm. The sensation of apparating was never pleasant, but it was such an efficient way to travel. Padma sighed as she thought of how much she missed it. In the blink of an eye, they were standing in front of the office door. Padma held on to Theo's arm for a moment to steady herself.

"How are you going to get home tonight?" Theo asked as Padma swayed a bit, since apparating was no longer habitual for her.

"I'll just catch the Knight bus."

"That late at night, is it safe?"

Padma laughed a little, "I AM a fully trained witch. Besides, I've been doing it for years, don't worry I'll be fine. I'm not some damsel-in-distress." Padma climbed the stairs and opened the office door. "I'll see you tomorrow Theo, thanks for getting me here." Theo nodded once then apparated away.

Two hours later, Padma yawned while locking the door to the office. She made her way to the street corner to signal for the bus which appeared a few minutes later. "Hi Stan," she greeted the trusty conductor as she boarded.

Stan beamed a smile back at Padma. "Good evening lovely lady. Off home then?"

"Yes, I'm really tired. I'll go grab a bed." She said running quickly to the nearest bed before the driver had a chance to take off at a sudden lurch.

In a dark alcove on the other side of the street two hooded figures leaned against the wall holding broomsticks.

"Theodore, I'm your friend, but this is creepy," the figure with hair as pale as the moon stated flatly.

"I just wanted to make sure she got home safe," Theo countered.

"This is the last time I stalk someone with you. Believe it or not mate, standing around for half an hour, hiding in the shadows, watching drunks stagger by and piss on the wall ten feet away from you is not fun," Draco said with considerable sarcasm. "Besides, not only is my mother's fate in the hands of the object of your obsession, but I actually happen to like Ms. Patil. I don't want to get on her bad side."

"Your objection is duly noted Malfoy. I won't be following Padma. I just felt responsible for her being out so late, with you inviting her to dinner and everything. Which reminds me, I'll hex your balls off if you do anything like that again."

"What the hell for? You like her don't you?"

"Liking her is totally irrelevant. Even including her in our dinner was so bloody awkward. Did you see her thank my house elf? The war might be over, but you know as well as I do that she doesn't understand or belong in our circle."

Draco clapped Theo sympathetically on the shoulder. "Or is it that you don't belong in her circle?"


	6. Chapter 6

Theo thought Padma always dressed nicely for the office, well at least for the week since he had joined, but today she had outdone herself. Her dark-red jacket was very tightly tailored, accenting her curves, and her skirt ended above the knee in a slight flair. Her height was increased three inches by heels that suited her legs perfectly. Her hair was pulled back loosely into a bun with a few loose curls that she tucked behind her ears. He smiled to himself thinking that maybe she was trying to impress him. Maybe Draco was right and he should worry less about their differences. Theo smirked wickedly as Padma leaned across her desk, gathering paperwork. Just then Alicia walked in and laughed when she noticed her partner. "Looking good Padma, I take it you're visiting Gus today."

"Yup," Padma smiled. Theo frowned.

Alicia kept laughing, "Better you than me. I haven't been for two months."

"Lucky you," Padma rolled her eyes. Now Theo was more perplexed. "Let's go Theo, we have to use the Portkey at the Ministry."

Theo fought against his sense of apprehension as they portkeyed towards Azkaban. He had never wanted to return to that soulless place. He kept reminding himself he was free now and would be able to leave anytime he wanted. Lost in his throughts, he didn't realize how clearly his panic was painted on his face.

"Are you okay Theo? You can go back if you're uncomfortable," Padma said patting his arm worriedly. What kind of lawyer would he be if he was afraid of visiting clients in Azkaban?

"I'm fine, don't worry," Theo muttered in an irritated voice.

Padma nodded and led the way to the main office in the gloomy stone fortress. The office was a large dark room, with many guards in dark navy robes working at desks and walking about. They made their way to the closest desk where a middle-aged wizard processed visitors.

"Hi Gus," Padma smiled while brushing her hair out of her face. "We're here to see Narcissa Malfoy."

"Hi Ms. Patil. May I have your papers." The burly guard said happily while taking a long look at Padma. Theo inhaled sharply, both angry and disappointed. After inspecting the papers for a minute the guard finally said, "I think meeting room six is free."

"Thanks Gus," Padma beamed as the middle-aged guard blushed. "You're so sweet, I really appreciate it."

"Sure, I'll have Narcissa Malfoy sent down," Gus said as a memo flew from his table out of the door.

"So how is it going?" Padma asked casually. "Done anything excitingly lately."

Gus' face lit up. "Actually, I'm going on a wizarding retreat to Antarctica soon. Gonna get to learn all about the magical wildlife down there."

"I'm so excited for you! That sounds fantastic," Padma said with genuine enthusiasm. Theo felt awkward, watching a friendly conversation between two people who seemed to have forgotten he was there. Padma continued animatedly questioning Gus about his trip, and Theo found himself hoping the guard would freeze to death down there.

Finally, a back door to the office opened and Narcissa walked in, managing to look aristocratic and haughty despite her prisoner's uniform, closely followed by another guard. Gus withdrew his keys and lead the four of them down a narrow staircase.

"You know the drill Ms. Patil," Gus said when they reached the landing at the bottom. "You get an hour with the prisoner, and there will be a guard posted outside the door." Gus looked at the group as they filed in and finally noticed Theo was there. "Theodore Nott," he said surprised.

Gus looked questioningly at Padma as she arranged herself at the table. Theo could see what he was thinking. Should he leave this beautiful woman alone in a room with an inmate and Theo, a convicted violent felon wearing no restraints? "Thank you Gus, I'll be fine," Padma said giving him an encouraging smile.

Gus hesitated another few seconds and said, "It's always nice seeing you Ms. Patil," before finally leaving. Theo internally fumed at the gall of the man. What did the fat guard think, that he would hurt Padma? Pick her up and throw her against the wall? Theo reddened as he thought of the time four years ago when he had done something that met that description.

"How are you Theo dear?" Narcissa questioned in her elegant voice. "I see the outside world is treating you well."

"I'm doing very well Mrs. Malfoy, thank you" Theo replied.

"I do love your visits Ms. Patil," Narcissa said, switching her attention to Padma. "I appreciate your procurement of this room." Theo only then looked around. They were in a large room, surrounded on all sides by windows cut into the stone, that let in a fresh salty breeze and plenty of sunshine. He knew that all the cells in Azkaban had a small warded window that let in meager amounts of light and no air at all. He could understand how heavenly this room must feel to Narcissa.

"Well I do what I can," Padma said while shuffling papers.

"Even if my residence here turns out to be an extended one, I would like to retain your services if we can continue these visits," Narcissa said nonchalantly. Theo suddenly realized what Narcissa obviously already knew. Padma's whole flirtation with Gus was simply to procure the nicest meeting room for her imprisoned clients.

"Let's see if we can avoid it coming to that," Padma said as cheerfully as she could. She then dove in outlining the upcoming proceedings to Narcissa.

Finally she summarized the current state of affairs. "I won't sugar coat it Mrs. Malfoy, it doesn't look good. The Ministry can undisputably prove that you bound Severus Snape to murder Albus Dumbledore. We can try to prove that you were coerced by having Draco testify to the imminent danger to his life if he had failed in the task."

"I won't have Draco dragged into this," Narcissa said sternly.

Padma sighed and simply said, "Are you sure about that? It will make the case considerably more difficult."

"Yes I'm sure. He's managed to avoid imprisonment in this hell. I don't want him in that witness box reminding everyone of what he's done. I want him to move on and live his life," Narcissa's voice broke as she became emotional for a brief second, but she quickly collected herself. "I will not risk my son's reputation or freedom Ms. Patil."

Padma nodded as if she'd expected this all along. Theo leaned back in his chair and felt a dull ache in his chest. He had seen his mother die when he was very young, and his father could never have been accused of being protective. How different could his own life have been if he had had a strong mother like Mrs. Malfoy looking out for him, willing to sacrifice for him? He looked over at Padma who met his eyes and gave him a bittersweet smile as if she knew what he was thinking. Theo found it very disconcerting.

"All right, Mrs. Malfoy. Another defense we could try is to show that Snape would have killed Dumbledore even if he had never made the Unbreakable Vow. While we have some evidence that Dumbledore and Snape colluded in his murder, we don't know for sure why and when they did this. I'll focus all our efforts in the coming weeks towards building this defense, but it is a longshot."

"That's fine, Ms. Patil. I appreciate the difficulty of your task."

Theo then asked, "Mrs. Malfoy, can you describe Severus Snape's demeanor when he made the vow. Did he hesitate? Did he flinch?"

Narcissa laughed, "Snape was an impossible man to read, I think he was always guarded, with everyone, his whole life. But I can say that when Bellatrix asked him for the Vow, he agreed immediately, he did not flinch. I found that strange at the time. Even the most loyal Death Eater would have hesitated before entering an Unbreakable Vow. But he did not. I just figured he was eager to please, to prove his loyalty."

Just then the guard rapped loudly on the door. "Time's up," he said poking his head in.

"I would like to walk with Narcissa to her cell," Padma said quickly.

The guard frowned before jerking his head to the side as an indication for them to follow.

Theo felt sick as they walked through the halls. The oppressive depression of the place thickened around his body. He felt enormous pity for Narcissa as she re-entered her cell and the guard re-warded it. "We'll be back soon Mrs. Malfoy," Padma assured her.

Narcissa nodded and sat down on her cot. A sudden scream followed by a retching noise came from the end of the hall. The guard turned to them, "I should go see what that is. I trust you can find your own way back to the office Ms. Patil."

"Yes of course," Padma replied.

After the guard was out of earshort, Narcissa said firmly, "Remember, Ms. Patil, protecting Draco is more important than my freedom."

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy, goodbye," Padma said before turning and walking away next to Theo, who had a deep scowl on his face. He couldn't wait to get out of that horrid place. At the end of the hall, they waited for the lift opposite a dark cell. Theo looked through the bars, and then was startled as two bright yellow irises suddenly pierced through the darkness.

"I haven't seen anything so appetizing for a long time," the prisoner drawled in a gravelly voice. Suddenly the yellow-eyed creature launched himself at the wards which sparked violently with the impact, but held. Theo jerked back, startled, but Padma stood stock still, keeping her gaze on the lift doors. It was Greyback, the notorious werewolf, and he was eyeing Padma intensely.

"You smell sinful. Delicious. Young. Supple." The werewolf paused to inhale deeply. "Ah still a virgin. I would enjoy taking care of that." Padma blushed but her eyes remained fixed straight ahead.

Theo looked at Greyback incensed, "Shut it, you filth, or I'll slice that tongue out of your mouth."

"Well, well, if it isn't the Junior Snott," Greyback laughed. "I don't take orders from you high and mighty Death Eaters anymore. You keep your pathetic threats to yourself pup. I'll rip those meager clothes from your friend's lithe little body and take her while I shred her flesh, and she'll love it more than any of your delicate cowardly touches. She'll ache for me."

"You disgusting animal," Theo exclaimed charging towards Greyback and stopping short of the barrier. The lift arrived a moment later, and Padma entered, turned around and held it open with her outstretched hand. Her flushed cheeks and downcast eyes were evidence of her embarassment. Theo walked into the lift and pulled Padma close to his side instinctively.

Greyback sneered, "Run along little pup. And you, vixen, I'll be dreaming of peeling those tight little clothes off your writhing blood-soaked body after I..." The closing door thankfully cut off the werewolf's perverse musings.

In the ensuing silence Theo finally noticed how tightly he was gripping Padma to his body. He wanted her to stay there in his arms he realized. He wanted her badly. And here he had almost convinced himself he was done with his desire for her after all these years. As this troubling catharsis broke free in his mind, Padma shrugged out of his grasp and whirled around to face him. "What the hell were you thinking?" she spoke in a low, angry voice.

That I want you to be mine, Theo thought, but said nothing out loud. After a few seconds of Theo's flustered silence, Padma continued, "Why did you engage with that prisoner? I don't need you to defend me Mr. Nott."

"Well, I'm very sorry for trying to protect you from a degenerate pervert's pornographic fantasies," Theo spat out sarcastically while eyeing her body. "Perhaps if you'd worn some decent wizarding robes instead of that provocative Muggle rubbish, we could have been spared this whole lovely incident."

Theo regretted his words as soon as they were out, but it was too late. Padma's eyes flared in fury as the lift doors opened and she spoke softly, "You of all people have no right to protect me or judge me. You no longer have any right to me at all Theodore Nott."

"What does that mean?" Theo asked, but received no reply as Padma stomped off.


	7. Chapter 7

Padma had managed to avoid Theo for a few days by leaving him piles of research to read in the office and disappearing before anyone got in. Alicia accused her of being childish, but Padma couldn't bring herself to tell Alicia exactly why she was so upset.

"Take him with you today Padma," Alicia said sternly, having come into the office early so she could confront her friend. "Theo's been stuck here for days, being all silent and somber. Was it a mistake to hire him?"

Padma sighed. She could forgive Theo his comments, but the more serious problem was they were falling into the same old patterns. He would be protective of her, and she would assert her independence. She would read his moods through his silence, and he would deny the emotions she could plainly see. They were getting entangled with eachother, something Padma had promised her sister wouldn't happen. "No, it wasn't a mistake exactly, I just need to keep things professional between the two of us, that's all."

"Um, so I could be wrong here, but wouldn't the professional thing to do be to stop avoiding him?" Alicia questioned. "Just take him along with you today. Then you'll have the weekend to be Theo-free, and there's your sister's party tonight. I'm hoping if you unwind and spend some time with your friends, you'll snap out of this I have to work with an ex-Death Eater all day funk."

Padma smiled broadly at her friend's teasing. "Fine, I'll take him. But you have to help me get dressed tonight."

"Me? You're the Indian one, don't you know how to put on a saree?"

"Yes, but it's one of Parvati's creations. And it came with three bags of accessories. I'm gonna need help to get it right."

"Fine. I'm so excited for tonight. Oliver and I haven't been out in ages. And Oliver looks so handsome in dress robes," Alicia wiggled her eyebrows at Padma.

"Yeah, Oliver is so dreamy," Padma said fluttering her eyelashes while leaning dramatically against the wall. "He's so muscular, and Quidditchy, and... Scottish. I could totally fall for a guy like him."

Alicia stuck her tongue out at Padma.

"Good morning," Theo said from close by, startling the girls out of their conversation.

"Good morning, Theo," Padma said straightening suddenly, while Alicia supressed a giggle.

Soon Padma and Theo were on their way to Hogwarts, where Padma had an appointment for an interview with Madam Pomfrey. Theo apparated them to the gates, but Padma kept her hand on his arm to hold him back. "Wait Theo, I just want to say, let's forget what happened the other day."

Theo nodded his head emotionlessly while looking towards the gates. "That's fine." Padma sighed with frustration at Theo's taciturn reply, but this was Theo after all, what was she expecting?

Theo's silence endured as they made their way to the castle, but Padma hardly noticed. This was her first time back in years, and it felt very strange. The sky was filled with clouds, but that didn't seem to dampen the excitement of the new batch of young wizards and witches who were laughing and playing out on the grounds. They seemed happy and carefree-normal.

Padma was still smiling to herself when Headmistress McGonagall greeted them at the entrance to the Great Hall. "Ms. Patil, Mr. Nott, welcome back to Hogwarts," McGonagall's sternness had remained intact over the last few years, but Padma couldn't muster the same degree of self-control.

"Professor-I mean Headmistress, everything seems so great here," Padma said in her naturally girly voice that she often tried to mask for her work. "The castle has been repaired and the children look happy. It's wonderful that everyone here seems to have moved on, but you'll have to forgive me, I'm finding it all a little strange to see."

"I understand how you feel, Ms. Patil," the headmistress responded. "I'm often amazed how much this place has healed in only a few years. I think we have the students to thank for that. I find that young people are often far better at forgetting the past and living in the present. Now, I shall take you to see Madam Pomfrey, and then you are both welcome to stay with us for lunch of course."

"Thank you headmistress, we would like that," Padma said looking at Theo to try to gauge his reaction, but he seemed even more guarded than usual. Ever the Slytherin, Padma thought to herself.

Padma and Theo's interview with Madam Pomfrey was more fruitful than they had expected. She was able to provide records that showed that Dumbledore had been on the verge of dying from the injuries he sustained to his hand when Snape finally executed him. This was as good as circumstantial evidence was going to get for their case.

As they made their way back to the Great Hall, Padma asked Theo if he wanted to stay at Hogwarts for lunch.

"Do you want to stay?" Theo questioned before answering.

"Well, yes, I would like to. The meals here were delicious."

"Well, let's stay then." Theo said without offering his own opinion, much to Padma's frustration.

Upon entering the Great Hall, an excited looking seventh year made her way over to Padma. "Hi Padma, what are you doing here?" She said while giving her a hug.

"I'm here for business, you look so great Amy, all grown up." Padma returned enthusiastically.

Amy had been a third year Ravenclaw during Padma's last year, and quite a rebel during the Carrow era. One of Padma's longest detentions with Snape had been due to Amy. She had taken the blame for a particularly difficult prank Amy had designed. Amy had bricked over the doors to the Carrow offices to exactly match the surrounding wall. The job was so well done that it had taken the Carrows twenty minutes of walking back and forth to realize the doors were missing, while students gathered around and started giggling. It had been the better part of the day before they had actually gotten in. The Carrows were furious and more than willing to assume it had been one of Neville's set, though this was too subtle and smart to be a Gryffindor prank. A Ravenclaw had to take the fall and Padma volunteered herself, she couldn't bear to see them torture a third year. Besides, whatever the punishment was, the brilliant prank had been worth it.

"Come sit with us, I want everyone to meet you," Amy implored.

"Sure, you coming Theo?" Padma asked, butTheo excused himself to go sit with his house.

During her school years, Padma occasionally wished she had been in Gryffindor with her sister. But today at lunch, she was definitely grateful for the intelligence that was the hallmark of her house. Many of Amy's friends were eager to hear some of the stories from Padma's time, which had become legendary in Ravenclaw, but all had the good sense to avoid asking her about the Final Battle. Mostly she talked about the pranks of their final year, the Yule Ball the Patil sisters attended with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and the adventures of Loony, I mean Luna Lovegood. She was a bit taken aback by the amount of detail these kids already seemed to know.

When Padma was done eating, she excused herself and walked over to the Slytherin table. She stood right next to Theo who was eating silently. Still so solitary, Padma thought to herself. Even though they were no longer students, and the division between Slytherin and every other house was no longer so stark, the act of sitting at the Slytherin table still felt forbidden.

She slid onto the bench next to Theo and said, "Hi Theo. How was your lunch?"

"Fine," Theo said giving her a cursory glance.

After a few seconds, Padma said, "This is my first time sitting at the Slytherin table you know."

"I would think a pretty little innocent Ravenclaw like you wouldn't want to be seen at the Slytherin table," Theo teased.

But the blood drained from Padma's face as she remembered having heard him say something very much like that before.

_Padma hurried as quickly as she could towards Gryffindor Tower with the healing potions she and Terry had just finished brewing for Seamus. With Hermione gone, there wasn't anyone left in Gryffindor able to brew advanced potions. She was thinking about how badly she would be punished if she was caught out after curfew when a dark slim figure emerged from the shadows in front of her. Shit, Padma thought to herself._

_Theo was staring her down. "I can't believe I've caught you out again. You helping that half-blood Finnigan this time?"_

_"I have to Theo, he's in a lot of pain," Padma pleaded, exhausted from brewing for hours. _

_"Well maybe he shouldn't mouth off all the damn time," Theo countered._

_"Well maybe his mouthing off gives all the rest of us some hope that we can still fight back," Padma muttered emotionally._

_Theo sighed. "You're mad. Look around, the Dark Lord already controls everything."_

_Padma's eyes narrowed angrily, "Well he doesn't control me."_

_"Oh, is that so? Then why are you here, sneaking around in the middle of the night, scared half to death?"_

_"I won't debate this with you Theo, just let me take these potions to him. Please," Padma renewed her entreaty._

_"Potions? You need charmed bandages for that wound," Theo said._

_"We don't have any, none of us could make the charm stick," Padma said, her eyes downcast._

_Theo stared at her for a moment, his brow furrowing. He then withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket which he quickly transfigured to bandages and then performed the complicated charm that would ensure that any skin wrapped in the bandage healed quickly. _

_A smile broke out on Padma's face as she looked at Theo. "Take it," he said thrusting the bandage into her hands. _

_"Theo, you have to teach me how to do that."_

_"Just take it and go Patil."_

_"No please, I'm begging you. We need help, or we'll never survive this. Can you meet me tomorrow night, in the classroom at the end of the fifth floor corridor?"_

_"No way Patil," Theo said walking away. _

_"I'll be waiting for you Theo," Padma said to his retreating back, before scurrying away. If she could just get Theo to teach her advanced Charms, for healing and defense, it would be a boon to their little resistance. Padma certainly hadn't expected help from Theodore Nott, Slytherin pureblood, but he had given it twice now. Maybe he wanted to join their resistance. Padma hoped that was the case, for the sake of the skills and information he could bring to the group, as well as more personal reasons. She was hesitant to admit it, even to herself, but she was intrigued by the taciturn Slytherin._

_The next night, Padma yawned as the clock chimed midnight, and there was still no sign of Theo. She was disheartened but decided to wait a little longer. Soon, she dozed off while sitting against the wall. Next thing she knew, something was tapping on her shoulder._

_"Wake up Patil, do you know what would have happened if I hadn't been the one that found you here?" Padma blinked as her eyes focused on Theo's scowling face._

_"You came," she said, sleep still clouding her mind._

_Padma spent the next hour learning two advanced spells from Theo. She worked hard, perservering despite repeatedly failing to produce the correct charm. The room was dark and silent, and the atmosphere was tense, as Theo hovered close and gave her terse instruction. When she finally performed the spells correctly she broke into a grin._

_"That's enough for tonight, but you'll need to practice more," Theo said in his usual solemn mood._

_"I will, don't worry. Thanks Theo," Padma said stepping up on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the cheek._

_"Careful Patil, or your friends will think their pretty little Ravenclaw princess has sullied herself by associating with a dark evil Slytherin," Theo said moodily._

_Padma smirked. "I am hardly a princess anymore Theo. I think my days of thinking about clothes and gossiping about boys are over. It's like you said, the Dark Lord controls everything now, and all I can do is struggle against him. Besides, you're evidence that being in Slytherin doesn't mean you're dark and evil." Padma's heart pounded as she reached out and held his hand. _

_Theo's words were harsh, but Padma noticed he didn't pull his hand away. "You're naive Padma. I am a Dark Wizard. My father is one of the Dark Lord's highest ranking  
>Death Eaters. Everyone knows it."<em>

_"Then why are you helping me?" Padma persisted._

_"Because you're a foolish witch, but you're a Pureblood who I don't want to see getting hurt. Or maybe I'm trying to turn you to our side."_

_Padma tried to speak with as much authority as she could muster. "I may seem like a foolish, uncertain, little girl Theo, but don't hold your breath, I'd rather die than serve the Dark Lord."_

_Theo bent his head to hers and kissed her gently while brushing her cheek with his fingers. Despite the lightness of his touch, the kiss was filled with intensity._

_After they broke apart, Theo stated with an unreadable expression, "We'll see."_

_Padma caught her breath and said, "But you will keep teaching me?"_

_Theo was halfway out the door when he paused and said, "Yes."_

_They continued to meet whenever they could, and Padma had secretly begun teaching her newly mastered spells to other former D.A. members. But she hadn't revealed the source of her knowledge, regardless of Parvati's urging._

_Over the next few months, Theo and her grew close, despite their continued political battle. They spent as much time kissing and arguing when they met as they spent training. As she got to know him better, she became convinced that she could bring him around to their side. Sure he was a haughty pureblood, but his heart wasn't in Voldemort's fight. The only problem was his family and pureblood society, which Theo was unlikely to ever shirk._

_One night, Padma decided to put her ability to cast a Disillusionment charm to the test. She clutched a small package to her chest as she made her way through the dungeons. With a lot of planning and a little luck she made it into the Slytherin common room and down to the boys dormitory. Her heart raced. If she was discovered here, the results would be catastrophic. When had she become so foolish about Theo, she wondered._

_She knocked softly on his door, and undid the disillusionment when Theo opened it, revealing herself. His eyes bulged in shock, and he quickly yanked her in and cast a silencing charm on the door before his outburst. "What the hell are you doing down here? Are you mad, do you know what'll happen if you get caught?"_

_Padma said, "I need to know something Theo, do you consider me your girlfriend? I mean pretend we didn't have this war and we didn't have to hide every time we met. Would we be dating?"_

_Theo's shock from her sudden appearance had barely worn off when Padma decided to present him with this startling new question. "Padma, I think you really have gone mad. We're in the middle of a fucking war. I'm not about to take you out to Madam Puddifoot's."_

_"Fine, let me start over," Padma said and averted her gaze to the floor. "I'm falling for you Theo, I mean, I'm falling in love with you, I think. I don't know, I've just never felt this way before. And since I consider you my boyfriend, I thought, well, that I should help you celebrate like I was your girlfriend, so here," Padma held out her little bundle, "Happy birthday!"_

_Padma's face was flushed by the end of her rambling speech and she looked at Theo's face nervously, waiting for a response. Theo took the package from her hands and began opening it. "You shouldn't be in love with me Padma," he said. Padma's heart sank, she had been hoping for at least a little reciprocation. "But I might be falling for you too."_

_"REALLY!" Padma squealed and threw herself into Theo's arms. He smiled and looked past the mass of girl currently trying to burrow into his chest to the old worn book he had just unwrapped. It was titled, "Wands: Do They Have a Mind of Their Own? A Collection of Dark Tales". _

_"Uh, Padma, I can't wait to read it, but this is a library book," Theo said._

_"Well, I couldn't exactly go shopping in Hogsmeade, could I? So I stole it," Padma said still clinging to him._

_"You stole it?"_

_"Yes, from the Restricted Section," Padma smiled up into Theo's face._

_"You're becoming reckless, you know that?" Theo glared down at her._

_Padma shrugged. "Well, I just wanted to get you something you'd like, future wandmaker." She stood up on her toes and kissed Theo softly at first, and then brought her hands around the back of his neck as he deepened the kiss._

_After a few seconds Theo broke away and buried his fingers in Padma's long black hair. "So, you snuck all the way down here to give me a stolen book? And how, pray tell, were you planning on getting back out tonight? It's past curfew now. The Slytherin Prefects will be out patrolling the dungeons."_

_"I was hoping I could spend the night here." Padma felt shy as she made her declaration. "It's just that things are so uncertain, and who knows how long we have, so I thought-"_

_Theo cut off her embarassed rambling with another kiss, but this time ran his hands down the sides of her arms until they came to rest on her hips. "I brought some night clothes to change into," Padma said while stepping out of his grasp and undoing the buttons on her robe. Theo eyed her intensely as she backed away. "Well, aren't you going to turn around?"_

_"No, I don't think so."_

_Padma courage was starting to fail her. "You should know Theo, I don't really know about this stuff, I mean I know about it obviously, but I've never you know, slept with anyone."_

_"Yeah, I figured," Theo joked, earning a glare from Padma. "Well you should know, that I haven't exactly slept with anyone either."_

_Padma stacked her clothes neatly on a chair, determined not to act completely self-conscious as she stood there in her bra and knickers. She had picked out a dark gray lacy pair for the night, just in case everything went as planned. Padma pulled a short sleeveless night gown quickly over head. _

_"You look beautiful," Theo said and then walked to his wardrobe kicking off his shoes as he went. "Well, I guess I should change too." He began undressing and heard a giggle as he pulled his shirt off and turned sharply in Padma's direction._

_"Sorry," Padma said looking away, but sneaking glances over her shoulder. It's just that I haven't really seen a guy undress before. I mean, I've seen Neville and Seamus and Terry, but they were injured and bleeding and it wasn't really sexy at all."_

_Theo frowned. "Are you sure your ready to do this? I mean it's a big leap from what we've been doing."_

_"I know I'm naive Theo, but I'm sure of how I feel about you. And maybe if we didn't have this war, I'd want to take it slowly." Padma approached Theo from behind as he faced his wardrobe and ran her hands from his bare shoulders all the way down his back. He tensed under her touch and breathed deeply. "But I'm growing up quickly in all kinds of ways, and I want this. I want to feel closer to you." She moved closer and rested her forehead between his shoulder blades. "I want to forget about everything else for just one night." _

_She sighed and tried not to think of the foreboding she constantly felt. Whenever she thought about all the possible ways the future could unfold for her, for Theo, for the wizarding world, she would come to the conclusion that even if they won, some things would most likely end badly. She had hatched this whole plan hoping to have one wonderful night with Theo before it was too late. _

_Theo turned around and easily scooped Padma up into his arms and moved around the room blowing out the candles before reaching the bed where one lone candle still burned on the nightstand. He set Padma down and climbed in next to her before pulling the covers over them both. They lay facing each other and he draped his arm over her waist holding her close._

_The simple act of laying next to Theo, holding each other in bed, was overwhelmingly intimate. Padma wondered if it was this way for all couples, if holding each other every night could wash away all their burdens, make them feel alive and happy. She had never thought about her parents as a 'couple' but suddenly realized that her mom and dad must gain a lot of comfort from each other, being with each other like this every night._

_Theo ran his hand down Padma's leg, distracting her from her thoughts. She started giggling again. Theo whispered, "What's so funny?"_

_"I was just wondering, is that where you'd take me on a date, Madame Puddifoot's?" Padma smiled._

_"No, if I took you out, we'd go flying," Theo cracked a smile._

_"I'd love that," Padma said as she ran her hand down his chest. "If there was no war. We'd date, and you'd get to know Parvati. She'd disapprove, but eventually really like you. My parents would love you too."_

_"They would?" Theo questioned, while bringing his hand up to her neck and brushing her sleeve off her shoulder. _

_"I think so. As long as you had a job my dad would be happy. My mother is wildly romantic, she'd love hearing about how we fell for each other."_

_Theo kissed her bare shoulder, "Your parents sound nice."_

_"What would your dad think of me?" Padma asked breathily._

_"He'd be furious," Theo said pulling back. _

_Worried about the distance Theo suddenly put between them, Padma quickly climbed on top of Theo, straddling his waist. "Let's not worry about him then." Padma kissed Theo's chest and then rested her head against his heart. "We would just elope and tell him later."_

_Theo flipped Padma over and held her down by the waist while she laughed hysterically. "Next thing you'll be talking about moving into the Nott Estate with our four children."_

_"Four, I was thinking more like one," Padma said out of breath._

_"Nah, it's awful being an only child. We should have a bunch," Theo said while nuzzling Padma's neck forcefully, causing an extremely ticklish Padma to squirm uncontrollably._

_"Fine, I would have as many little Notts as you like," Padma said as Theo moved up to kiss her on the cheek. "I really do love you, you know," Padma said soberly._

_"Yes, I've started to figure that out," Theo said before kissing her soundly. His hands began to explore her body in earnest while Padma clung to him, kissing every patch of skin she could find. He began to slip off her nightgown when suddenly there was a loud knock at the door._

_"Nott, wake up, Professor Carrow is here for you."_

_Padma lay shocked for a moment before disentangling herself from Theo who quickly scrambled out of bed. His demeanor completely transformed from relaxed and happy to tense and moody. "Stay here," he said quickly as he made for the door, "I'll probably be a while." With those few words he opened the door and was suddenly gone. _

_Padma refused to feel bereft. He would be back, he had said so. She lay in Theo's bed, thinking about all that had happened that night. How she had taken such a bold risk, not just in sneaking into Slytherin (who would ever believe her capable of that?) but in telling Theo about how she felt. And so far, everything had gone so well. Theo had as good as said he loved her back. Who knows, maybe everything could end well after all. Maybe Harry would kill Voldemort in his sleep this very night, and they would all wake up in a free Wizarding world. _

_After an hour or so, Padma fell asleep huddled under Theo's covers. When she woke up it was dawn. She had to sneak out soon to avoid being caught. Theo was fast asleep on the other side of the bed. Well, things hadn't gone exactly as planned, but they had spent the night together, in a way. Padma got dressed before tapping him on the shoulder, his eyes opened slowly and looked bloodshot._

_"I have to go Theo. You look terrible, you should sleep in," Padma said. Theo was just waking, but Padma sensed uneasiness rolling off him. "Don't get up, I'll see you later I guess. Happy birthday Theo." She bent over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. _

_Padma had left hesitantly, sensing that something was wrong, but Theo made no move to stop her or say anything. _

_That day, Ginny had set into motion their plan to vandalize the school with messages in support of Harry. Theo had voiced his disapproval when he accidentally found out something was up, but Padma barely took notice. He often cautioned her against becoming too much of a radical._

_That night Padma returned to her room, her adrenaline flowing from the prank they had just pulled off, when she found a note on her bedside table. It read,_

_IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO FORGET ABOUT YOU. _

_Padma knew immediately who had sent it and what it meant. She had always found herself working out all the possible things that could happen and paths that she and others might end up taking. It was a rather annoying Ravenclaw habit. And she had figured he might do this someday. But she hadn't expected it to happen like this, without any explanation, after the night they had spent together. She threw the note in the fireplace and sat against the wall stunned. _

_She managed to hold herself together the next morning, numb and unable to enjoy the success of their prank. But her self-control broke when she saw Ginny, Neville, and Seamus get tortured in front of the entire student body in the Great Hall. She began crying for her friends, but her heart and mind absolutely shattered when Theo stepped up to take his turn. She made eye contact with him and shook her head, but knew it wouldn't make the slightest difference. _

_Later that morning she found herself laying in another bed that wasn't her own, this time in the arms of her sister who was begging her to explain what was wrong. _

_Finally Padma found her voice and told Parvati the whole story. At the end she choked out the words, "He's done with me. He's obliviated me right out of his memory."_

_"Doing that is so difficult it's practically impossible Padma," Parvati said confused._

_"Not for him, I know he's done it."_

_For the rest of the year until Harry finally came back and put an end to the war, Padma became one of the most devoted and reckless soldiers for their rebellion. She spent much of her time training with Seamus. He would often try to convince her to rest after attacking her for hours during their sessions. Padma it seemed had adopted Theo's terseness. All she would ever say, was "again"._

Theo pulled her out of her reverie. "What are you thinking about Padma? You drifted off for a minute there."

Padma's lip curled up into an uneven smile. "Nothing worth remembering."


	8. Chapter 8

Theo stepped back to look at the timeline he had constructed on the stone wall near his office desk. July-Dumbledore's hand is injured by a curse. August-Snape takes the Unbreakable Vow. On various dates sprinkled throughout the year Dumbledore visits the infirmary as his condition worsens. May-Dumbledore is terribly weakened by consuming a potion and subsequently killed by Snape. Theo stared at the papers stretched along the wall, rubbing his hands along his jaw, feeling as if some crucial piece of information was missing.

"Dear gods, I cannot wear this," Padma exclaimed from inside the conference room, towards which Theo turned abruptly. Padma and Alicia had been in there about twenty minutes now, getting ready for Parvati's engagement party. "What in all the hells was Parvati thinking?"

"You look fantastic Padma, honest. You really can pull it off." Alicia encouraged.

"Even if that were true, which it isn't, my scars must be showing." Padma's voice sounded panicked. Theo wondered what scars Padma was talking about, she always looked perfect.

"No they're not. Parvati designed this just for you and your scars are well hidden. I must say, I should have her dress me next time, that looks gorgeous," Alicia said. "Oliver is going to be here soon. Let's just finish pinning your hair back, okay?"

"Alicia, in all honesty, you think I can wear this outside this room without looking like a total idiot?" Padma questioned.

"Yes, I swear Padma. You look brilliant." Alicia sounded sincere. "Besides it would crush Parvati if you didn't wear it." In the ensuing pause Theo wondered how stupid Padma might look if she sounded so worried, surely it couldn't be that bad.

A minute later Alicia stepped out of the conference room, dressed in an elegant knee-length blue dress. Theo was busy scowling at the wall. "Emm hmmm," Alicia cleared her throat. "Aren't you going to say that I look nice?"

Theo redirected his gaze towards her. She was making an effort to include him in the office comaraderie, he knew, despite the awkwardness of the past week. "Yes, of course, you look very nice," he delivered stiffly, his mind still pre-occupied with thoughts of the case.

"I'll pretend like that was sincere." Alicia smiled as she fastened her cloak around her neck, and turned back towards the conference room. "Padma, come out of there already, we're going to be late."

The door clicked open and Padma stepped out nervously. Theo's initial thought was to wonder who exactly this creature was. Padma always looked pretty, but this woman was someone else entirely. Someone so perfect and feminine and gorgeous, it was hard to believe she was real. She was wearing a black saree made entirely of lace so delicate and sheer it looked almost like a trick of the light. She wore a small sculpted blouse that left most of her stomach bare under the lace in the front and tied together in a knot in the back, covering only inches of otherwise exposed soft looking skin. The lace shifted and flowed prettily with her movements. Silver bangles adorned her wrists, and several very fine strands of silver punctuated with diamond beads wrapped around her neck, giving the impression of falling raindrops. She wore matching earrings and her long wavy hair was pulled into a knot at the back of neck, held in place by two delicate silver combs.

Padma walked over to her desk while Theo tried not to stare. "I almost forgot," she said aloud, then rummaged through the open bag on her desk and found a simple silver dot which she placed on her forehead. "There, now Parvati can't complain, I'm wearing everything she sent me."

"She's gonna be thrilled Padma, you look fantastic!" Alicia said, Theo thought it was an understatement. "Parvati's a really talented designer you know Theo. As soon as I get a chance, I want to go visit her boutique in Hogsmeade, I'm dying to see what she's come up with this season."

Just then, Oliver Wood arrived to meet up with the girls. He greeted them all, and Theo suddenly felt awkward for being there. The rest were all friends going to the same party, and he wasn't their friend and certainly would never have been invited to celebrate Parvati's engagement. He should have gone home earlier, but he felt like there was something about the case that could change things, something just on the edge of his mind, he just needed to figure out what it was. He was determined not to go home that night until he had gone through all the evidence again.

Padma sensed Theo's uneasiness, and found herself from wanting to talk to him. She broke off from Oliver and Alicia and approached Theo who had resumed glaring at the wall. "Figured it out yet Theo?"

Theo continued studying the wall, purposely avoiding making eye contact with Padma. "Not yet, no."

"Well don't drive yourself crazy. Sometimes, I feel like I should be able to deduce something more significant from the facts I have, and obsess over it. But usually the answer just pops out when you least expect it." Theo nodded slightly but still kept his gaze averted.

Padma stood thoughtfully silent for a moment, wondering why Theo was avoiding her gaze and being so terse. When she thought she had worked it out, she became a little indignant and continued, "I see, so I'm sure you have something to say about my being dressed in this 'provocative Muggle rubbish' instead of 'decent wizarding robes'."

Theo finally looked at her. She wore a playful smile on her face that only made her look more alluring. "You said that we should forget about what happened."

Padma shrugged, "Fine, I'm sorry I brought it up then."

As Padma turned to walk away, Theo said, "But for the record, that was in a prison full of maniacs and killers. You shouldn't risk provoking people like that. I should know." Padma regarded Theo silently, realizing how deeply his time in prison must have effected him. "But I spoke out of turn. Amongst friends I wouldn't presume to apply such a standard. And you do look very nice tonight." Theo continued looking into Padma's eyes. His expression was unreadable, but Padma could feel his intensity at that moment and her breath hitched in her chest.

"Geez Padma, you look bloody gorgeous!" Padma broke eye contact with Theo and they both simultaneously looked towards the owner of the enthusiastic male voice with the Irish accent. Seamus walked over to Padma, leaning on a cane which clicked on the floor with each step, and embraced her while giving her a kiss on the cheek. For some reason it hadn't even occurred to Theo that Padma would have a date for this party.

"Seamus," Padma beamed at him. "You remember Theodore Nott."

Seamus turned towards Theo, who had withdrawn back to his usual guarded self. "Yeah, hi, Parvati told me you were working here." Seamus reached out and shook Theo's hand tentatively, undoubtedly recalling some not so easy to forget moments from their seventh year.

Theo was on the verge of mumbling an apology for having cast an unforgivable on Seamus, when Padma said. "Well, we should be going Seamus. Good night Theo."

After the four departed, Theo laughed out loud and rubbed his hands through his hair. How ridiculous that he still harbored feelings for Padma. It was absurd. She clearly had her own family, her own friends, her own dates and boyfriends, and they probably all hated him. He was an ex-prisoner for God's sake and she was a war hero. And she didn't fit into his life any better than he fit into hers. He would have to get rid of these feelings, it could only end badly. But first things first, he sat down at his desk, and pulled the first file from a large stack. Time to work on Narcissa's case.

* * *

><p>An hour into the party, Padma was enjoying herself immensely. It had been a few weeks since she had seen Seamus, whose company never failed to be boisterous and light-hearted. At the Final Battle, Seamus had been badly injured and needed months to recover. Padma had spent much of her spare time nursing him. Devoting herself to the task had given her a responsibility and focus that helped her recover as well. Padma knew that Parvati wanted their friendship to develop into something more, and they had secretly made a go of it once, but it hadn't worked. They were too firmly mired in their roles as war buddies to start any sort of serious romance.<p>

All of Parvati's and Neville's closest friends were at the party, about thirty of them, gathered around a large table. They were all laughing as they took turns telling embarassing stories about the future bride and groom, who seemed to be taking it well.

Seamus, slightly inebriated, stood up. "I've got a brilliant one, but I was sworn to secrecy. So Longbottom with your permission..."

"I don't know what..." Neville began confused until recognition dawned on his rapidly reddening face. "Uh uh, no way." After a few jeers from his back-stabbing friends however, he relented. "Oh fine."

Padma glanced at Parvati, who merely shrugged in confusion.

"All right. My tale takes place roughly four and a half years ago, when our dear friend Neville here was becoming the chief hero of Hogwarts," Seamus paused dramatically and drew cheers from the crowd. "Unfortunately for him, and also me, he proved himself more bloody innocent than I figured was humanly possible."

Neville groaned and Parvati sat up, obviously curious where this story was going. Padma knew that with Seamus, it couldn't be anywhere good.

"Longbottom finally figured out that the lovely Parvati had the hots for him... No discourtesy intended..." he said winking at Parvati who raised an eyebrow sharply. "But the sad sap came to me with a problem. Like the good mate I was I offered him a bit of firewhiskey, took a slug myself and then listened to his complaints.

"This will come as no shock to most of you, but as it turned out, Longbottom was worried about actually getting involved with the lovely Patil because he had absolutely zero experience with girls, hadn't snogged a single bird." Padma started laughing with the rest of the table. "And we all know that Parvati had ... well ... her fair share of boyfriends."

"Watch yourself Seamus," Parvati yelled from the end of the table.

"Moving on, so like the great friend that I obviously am, I gave Neville a few tips on how to make that first snog perfect."

"Yeah like you'd know!" Ginny heckled.

"Hey, you want to find out?" Seamus opened his arms in invitation.

"Hey" "Watch it!" Ron and Harry cried out in unison.

"No worries, I've only got eyes for you tonight babe," Seamus grinned tipsily at Padma who rolled her eyes.

"Well, so I gave Neville the only instruction he should ever need on how to kiss a girl, but the fool was just too timid, was ready to give up on the whole thing. Parvati and Neville might have never been about to become the Longbottoms if it wasn't for what I did that night.

"Neville kept on about how he would be terrible at kissing, like he was terrible at everything."

"Except Herbology," Lavender shouted.

"Except Herbology," Seamus echoed then cleared his throat. "So like the good friend I am, I swallowed another firewhiskey, and then I told the poor sod that he could kiss me if he needed to practice, that blokes did it all the time. Just as a joke mind you. But the fool didn't get it. And he kissed me."

Exclamations of disgust poured out of the group at this declaration. "How was it?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Not too bad actually, Longbottom's got some soft lips."

Neville, who was bright red, said, "Thanks Seamus."

"Yup, now you all know what a great friend I am. Had to kiss about a half a dozen girls just to get over it meself. In fact, just remembering the sodding event makes me need a kiss from a pretty girl. How about it Padma."

Padma let Seamus, who smelled strongly of cologne and firewhiskey lean in and kiss her, amidst cat calls from their friends.

When he finally released her, the group was still chuckling about the story Seamus had just told. Padma decided she would go next, and try to alleviate Neville's embarassment.

"Seamus, you're never an easy person to follow, but I'll give it a go. I would like to relay a story about how wonderful my future brother-in-law is."

"Back in school once, there was a boy whom I really liked, who kind of broke my heart."

"It was just one dance Padma, and I already said I was sorry," Ron called out.

"Believe it or not Ron, that horrible date where you wore that ugly old dress was not what I was referring to."

There were a few chuckles and then Hermione said, "Those were hideous robes."

Then Lavender asked, "Who was it then?"

Padma quickly responded, "That's not important. What is important is what Neville said to me. I was hiding behind a greenhouse, crying my eyes out, when Neville found me. I told him I was the biggest idiot in the world, because I was still in love with the jerk that broke my heart. Parvati had said he didn't deserve my tears. But Neville said something else."

"He said, 'I don't think you're an idiot. I don't know much about love, but I figure once you fall in love with someone, you can't break that bond. Even if you want to.'"

Padma continued after a few aahs from the group. "Well, I cried even harder after that. if Neville was right, I was doomed to still be in love with this guy for the rest of my life. The prospect of lifelong torment didn't exactly make me feel loads better." There were a few soft chuckles in the crowd.

Padma turned to look at Neville and raised her glass. "But, I'd like to say Neville, I don't know much about love, but I think maybe love is what each of us believes it to be. And I've never met anyone with a lovelier view of it than you. I'm so glad you're going to be my brother."

"Cheers," Seamus said raising his glass. As the group toasted Neville and Parvati, Padma sat back down and took a long sip, really beginning to wonder whether Neville hadn't been right in a way. No matter what she did, thoughts of Theo had haunted her for years, and even now she couldn't be disinterested in him. In fact, it was possible her feelings for him were rekindling. She shuddered at the thought.

* * *

><p>Padma huddled close to Seamus' chest for warmth as they walked tipsily down Diagon Alley.<p>

Seamus said, "Padma, you need to work less. You're on your way to becomin' as uptight as McGonagall."

Padma poked Seamus in the chest, "That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Besides you should talk. You're getting crazier by the day, and with that limp of yours, you're on your way to becoming just like Mad-Eye Moody."

"Are you jokin'? That would be wicked." Seamus exclaimed. "Battlin' bad guys and seeing right through the back of my head. I could be checkin' out a bird and she wouldn't even know it." Padma poked Seamus again as they climbed the stairs to her office noisily.

Padma started "I just have to grab some-"

Padma was stunned speechless. The timeline Theo had been working on along the wall had been expanded across half the room and was now littered with notes. "Oh my god, what is all this?"

"Grab your stuff, and I'll take you home Padma, you can worry about work tomorrow," Seamus said.

"No look, there's a whole timeline here of everything that happened the last three years of school. I want to stay and look through Theo's notes. You can head home Seamus."

Seamus protested, "No way I'm letting you take the Knight Bus this late. It'll have to wait."

Padma opened her mouth to argue, but just then Theo emerged from the shadows in the corner, "I can take Padma home."

"Holy Merlin, what the hell were you lurking like that for?" Seamus exclaimed. "It's creepy to spy on people, or didn't your mother ever teach you that?""

"Seamus, it's fine, Theo can Apparate me back," Padma said glancing at Theo who was glaring at Seamus. Seamus didn't know that Theo's mother had died young, under suspicious circumstances, and was completely unaware how Theo felt about anyone mentioning her.

"Fine Padma," Seamus stepped forward and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. He whispered so that only she could hear, "I trained you myself so I know you can defend yourself against the likes of that weirdo. But should it be necessary, a well-placed kick can disable even the darkest wizards." Padma laughed and gave Seamus another kiss on the cheek. As she looked up, she saw Theo frowning.

When Seamus was gone, Padma and Theo were left alone in a tense silence. "Well, did you have any breakthroughs?"

"Nothing concrete, but I have some new ideas," Theo answered.

Padma started scanning through the expanded timeline. He had posted notes and articles documenting every major event during their last three years of school, right up to the Final Battle. As she scanned through, she realized there were square gaps, that looked very much like missing chits of paper.

"Theo, why are you hiding some of the notes?" Padma asked.

Theo sighed, "They probably aren't relevant to the case, and trust me you don't want to see them."

"No please Theo, any information would be helpful." Theo waved his wand sullenly and dozens of notes appeared on the board. Padma scanned through them, and quickly realized they documented Theo's own experiences during the war. Beginning of fifth year, 'Saw the Dark Lord for the first time'. December of fifth year 'Father becomes favored Death Eater'. February of fifth year, 'The Dark Lord tells me I have potential'. April of fifth year, 'The Dark Lord tells me to improve my abilities with charms and I may someday have a special place in his circle. Father is proud.'

Padma felt sick as she read through them. He had told her some of these things when they were seeing eachother during seventh year, but not all. She had never known the extent to which he had interacted with Voldemort. How many secrets he had kept from her! He had met with the Death Eaters almost monthly. November, seventh year, 'The Dark Lord asks me about wandlore'. And then she came to December 9, seventh year. 'Given the Dark Mark'.

Padma's finger remained on the paper as she gasped. Her voice shook as she said, "That's your birthday." Padma's mind raced to fill in the gaps. She had gone to him the night before, told him she was in love with him, had almost slept with him. And then he was called away to meet with Carrow, who must have told him he was to receive the mark. And he'd accepted. He'd chosen the Dark Lord over her while she was asleep in his bed. Padma's heart ached, the pain she had buried years ago feeling fresh.

"Yes," Theo said. "I turned eighteen and the Dark Lord wanted me to receive the mark right away."

Padma, tired, tipsy, and now emotionally overwhelmed, couldn't hold back her reaction. "How could you Theo?"

"There is no possible explanation. Why are you so upset?" Theo asked.

"Why am I upset?" Padma's voice rose in exasperation, but no words came out. What could she say? He remembered nothing. What would be the point. "I...I'm just tired. I should go home."

Theo walked with her out the door, feeling utterly confused. His charge swayed a little down the stairs and he instinctively wrapped his arm around her to steady her, expecting a protest but she seemed too distracted to give any. She had known he was a Death Eater, right, so why the reaction to his notes? Maybe she had drank more than it seemed.

Side-along apparition with an intoxicated passenger was risky. So once on the street, Theo turned Padma towards him, holding her firmly so she wouldn't get splinched when he apparated them. Merlin, she smelled beautiful and looked divine, even with her eyes brimming with tears. She looked up into his face, as if searching his eyes for something. They were enveloped in silence and her gaze was imploring, and he badly wanted to kiss her.

Almost a whole foot taller than her, Theo bent his head towards her slowly, his heart beating quickly, as he hoped that she wouldn't pull away. But she stood still, keeping up her intense perusal of his eyes. Soon he was only inches away, his breath mingling with hers in the chilly air. She dropped her intense gaze and as her eyelids closed, they pushed tears out which rolled down her cheek. She tilted her head to meet his and soon her impossibly soft lips were pressed gently against his. She moved closer pressing both hands to his chest as they kissed. It felt so right holding her, kissing her, Theo had never felt this way about any other girl. Even her gentle kisses felt electric.

After a while, she pulled back from his kiss, and looked at him questioningly. "Do you remember?"

"Remember what?" Theo asked puzzled. Padma's face fell and Theo thought he heard footsteps nearby. He apparated them away before Padma had answered the question.


	9. Chapter 9

Padma's head spun from the combination of alcohol and apparation. Theo had brought them as close to Daisy Cottage as her anti-apparation wards would allow. She looked at her home, a sanctuary from the chilly air and emotional turmoil, and began shuffling as quickly as she could manage toward the front door. She was Padma Patil, always in control, master of keeping things compartmentalized. And now, only weeks from defending the biggest case of her nascent career, she was busy kissing her ex-Death Eater, ex-boyfriend clerk, drudging up emotional baggage that was best left buried, and fallling apart in the process.

Theo walked with long strides keeping up with her. "Remember what Padma?"

"Nevermind, I don't know what I was saying. Let's just forget this ever happened," Padma muttered quickly trying to push her key into the lock. Theo slammed his hand against the door in frustration and loomed over her. When her lock finally opened, she started to step inside but was arrested by Theo's hand on her bare shoulder.

"So that's it. We're just going to pretend like there's nothing between us," Theo said, glowering at her. This was the Theo Padma remembered, so quick to anger.

"Yes, I think it would be best. I'm your boss after all, this would be unprofessional," Padma explained gesturing to him and herself.

"Fine," Theo said before stalking off down her path and out into the night.

* * *

><p>Oliver settled into his chair and grabbed a piece of toast to eat for breakfast. His owl had already delivered his Daily Prophet. Great, he thought, he could check the scores from last night's games. He skipped right to the back page. Fantastic, the Chudley Cannons lost by seventy points, ruining their chances of making the championship. Oliver's team was going to make it for sure. Grinning with excitement, Oliver turned back to the front page scanning it quickly, pausing to stare at the last article on the page.<p>

"Alicia, honey, wake up, you should come see this."

* * *

><p>Draco sat sipping his breakfast tea at a small table in his library. With both his parents in Azkaban, he lived alone, and rarely used any of the sitting or dining rooms in the manor. One of his owls flew in and dropped his newpaper onto the table. He continued to sip his tea in silence for a few minutes before unrolling the paper. "Damn it Nott," he said before storming out of the room.<p>

* * *

><p>Neville approached the bathroom slowly. Parvati was in there, going through her morning makeup ritual. Neville stood outside the bathroom for a few seconds, shifting his weight between his feet, trying to work up the courage to knock on the door. "Honey, what are you doing out there, I can hear you shuffling," Parvati called out.<p>

Neville sighed and opened up the door. "I can wait until you're finished," he said softly.

Parvati put down her makeup brush and stomped out. "Neville, honey, you're scaring me, what is it?"

"Now, I don't want you to get too worked up," Neville said.

Parvati crossed her arms and glared back, "Just spit it out."

"There's an article in today's paper, it's-", Neville managed before Parvati snatched the paper out of his hands, "not so bad...", Neville trailed off.

"OH MY GOD!" Parvati yelled. "I'll kill him, I should have done it a long time ago. I'll kill him Neville I swear."

"Now honey, calm down, it really isn't that bad," Neville said trying to sooth Parvati by rubbing her arms.

"Not that bad! Not that bad!" Parvati exclaimed while stomping away from Neville and drawing her wand. She stormed out the front door and Neville heard the pop which meant that she had apparated away. He considered going after her, but in the end decided to just stay put and enjoy a few hours of quiet. Besides there was almost nothing anyone could do to contain his firey fiancee when she was this angry. He sat on his comfy winged-back chair, took a sip of his tea, and pulled out his new issue of Herbology quarterly.

* * *

><p>Padma blinked awake slowly, why did her head hurt so bad? Oh yeah, alcohol and crying. Her owl had dropped her paper straight on her face. Bad Macy, Padma thought, she never does that, she must be mad at me. That's when it caught her eye. The picture. Macy must have seen it, that's why she woke me up. Padma rubbed the sleep out of her eyes so she could see it more clearly. "Oh shit," she exclaimed. Well, she had tempted fate by declaring last night that things couldn't get any worse.<p>

She jumped up to go get cleaned up and changed. She had to get to Theo and try to contain the situation.

* * *

><p>Maple smiled to herself as she carried Master Theodore's breakfast tray up the stairs, with his newspaper on the side. She was very pleased. Things were looking up for master. And she liked the witch, Miss Padma Patil, yes she did. Miss Patil appreciated Maple's fine cooking. Maple was pleased, very very pleased.<p>

She placed the tray gently on the table near her master, who still slept soundly. "Master Theodore, I have brought you your breakfast," Maple said while tapping him on the shoulder.

Theo stirred awake. "What are you doing in here Maple?"

"I brought you breakfast," Maple smiled despite the warning glower on Theo's face.

"What the hell for?" Theo said grumpily as he turned over and went back to sleep.

"I thought Master would want to see his paper," Maple's smile broadened.

Theo flipped back over and brushed his hair back before grabbing the paper and a scone from the tray. He took a bite and scanned through the front page. He stopped dead when he saw the article at the bottom, and growled with frustration.

He looked up at Maple whose smile was so big she looked almost crazy. "Master, Miss Patil is waiting for you downstairs in the hall."

Theo stood up quickly to throw a robe on. "What? You should have told me that right away. Tell her I'll be down in a minute, and stop smiling Maple, it makes you look like a goblin," he huffed as he slammed the door to his bathroom shut. Maple's smile barely faltered as she made she way back down the stairs.

* * *

><p>As Padma waited she sat and re-read the article.<p>

**PADMA PATIL: FRIEND OF THE LIGHT OR LOVER OF THE DARK? by Rita Skeeter**

Right beneath that lovely headline were two magical photographs. In one she was shown kissing Seamus at Parvati's engagement party. She should have guessed there would be a photographer in the restaurant somewhere, with people like Harry Potter in attendance.

In the other she was kissing Theo in Diagon Alley. She had to admit the photographer was good at setting the scene. From his angle, Theo was emerging from a shadow and with his tall stature he managed to look dark and menacing as he swooped in to kiss her. Gods, she wished it didn't look so romantic to her. As she was wearing the same rather remarkable outfit in both pictures, it was abundantly clear she had kissed both men in the same night. Great, she was still a virgin and managed to look like a slag. Fantastic.

The pictures were bad enough, published for the entire wizarding world to see. Padma blushed thinking of what her parents would think when they returned from India for Parvati's wedding and saw them. But the article was even worse.

_Padma Patil, attorney, and alleged soldier for the light during the Battle of Hogwarts has become increasingly connected to the world of the Death Eaters. As we previously reported, she will be defending notorious Death Eater Narcissa Malfoy, who stands accused of the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Our experts say Malfoy will almost certainly be convicted of this heinous crime with the likely sentence being life imprisonment in Azkaban where her husband is already serving a life sentence._

_Many have wondered why a respected lawyer with such strong ties to the group that battled He-who-must-not-be-named would choose to defend a known Death Eater. While Miss Patil has never commented on this case, some have suggested that Miss Patil may have more ties to the Death Eaters than is generally known. _

_These suspicions have been validated by recent evidence discovered by The Daily Prophet. As shown in the photographs above, Miss Patil has been carrying on a romance with fellow veteran Seamus Finnigan, which may well just be cover for another relationship with none other than Theodore Nott Jr. (also pictured above). He was recently hired by Ms. Patil's firm, Spinnet and Patil, despite having no previous experience in law. Seamus Finnigan is himself unaware of the ongoing relationship between Ms. Patil and Mr. Nott. When asked to comment on the aforementioned relationship he said, "You must be mad. Padma would never go for that evil freak."_

_A source also confirms that the relationship with Mr. Nott, himself a Death Eater, may have been going on for years, since the two were in school together. If these reports are accurate more troubling questions about Miss Patil are sure to be raised. Did she collaborate with Death Eaters? Did she spy on her fellow soldiers for He-who-must-not-be-named? The Daily Prophet will be sure to bring you additional developments on this sensational story._

It was really bad. And how in all the hells did Rita Skeeter know? Padma had never told anyone but Parvati. And Parvati hadn't even told Neville. Maybe it was just one of Skeeter's famous wild guesses. Padma wished she could crawl into a hole and hide. But she couldn't, at least not until she was done with the case. She of course wouldn't comment on any of it, but she had to get her ducks in a row. The first and largest duck was of course Theo. She would have to tell him everything. She gulped down the tea Maple had given her, trying to steady her nerves.

"I'm sorry you were kept waiting," Theo said entering the sitting room confronted by a weary looking Padma whose eyes appeared to be puffy and have bags underneath them at the same time. He'd read the article, he knew it was bad. But he couldn't help feeling angry at Padma. She had never mentioned that she was dating Seamus, now he looked like quite the idiot pictured in their little love triangle.

"We need to talk," Padma said swiftly. "Have you seen the paper?"

"Yes," Theo said. "I see now why you wanted to pretend nothing happened. You should have just told me there was someone else."

"What? No, I'm not dating Seamus," Padma said. "We just kissed as a joke."

"I see, well it turned out hilariously," Theo said sarcastically. "You've made me look like an idiot."

Padma blinked in surprise for a second. "Well I'm so sorry for you. Unfortunately, I need to get you more involved in this so that things don't get any worse."

"What do you mean?" Theo asked angrily.

Padma prepared herself to just blurt it out, the secret she had kept from almost everyone, even him for years. "Skeeter isn't completely wrong, we were involved back in school."

"What?"

Padma swallowed down her anxiety which was causing an uncomfortable cold feeling to rush through her body. "We saw each other for a few months during seventh year."

Theo backed away from her, "Are you insane? Did you concoct some schoolgirl fantasy? We never dated Padma. I kissed you once after the Final Battle, but that's no relationship. Are you the one that fed this story to Skeeter? Merlin, you are crazy. You don't even know me."

Angry tears began welling in Padma's eyes. "I am crazy, for ever trusting you. And I do know you. I know you want to have four children someday, that you hated being an only child. I know that you have a scar on your left thigh from where you burned yourself as a kid. I know that as a kid you were often lonely and you thought of your pet kneazle as your best friend. I know you have a book called "Wands: Do They Have A Mind of Their Own?" because I stole it for you from the Restricted Section. I know you think your father may be responsible for your mother's death!"

Padma stopped ranting when Theo stepped up to her abruptly, fury painted across all his features. "How could you know those things?"

"Because Theo, we were boyfriend and girlfriend," Padma's voice broke as she spoke. "Then you broke up with me and obliviated yourself." Padma turned away to gather herself. "It's ancient history now, I'm only telling you so you know in case anyone asks any questions."

Theo eyed her suspiciously, not knowing what to think. Padma sat down and sighed. "You can look if you want."

"What?" Theo asked.

"My memories. I don't how else to prove it. You can use Legilimens on me."

Soon Theo was seated next to Padma and sifting through her memories. He spent nearly an hour starting from the first time they had met, through the nights he had spent training her during their secret trysts, to the night before his birthday. He was overwhelmed, he could hardly believe any of it was true. Finally, he arrived at Padma's memory of discovering his note, and then of her shock at watching him torture others, then there she was crying in Parvati's arms. "Enough!" Padma yelled pushing him out violently. She fell over on the couch and passed out from the exertion of the spell, a thin layer of sweat shone on her face and neck.

Theo sat back in shock, staring at her. He had desired her for years, and once upon a time, she had been in love with him. He could guess why he had put an end to it. There was no possibility he wouldn't accept the mark, his father would have strangled him with his bare hands. And of course he would obliviate himself, the Dark Lord looked into all his followers' minds when marking them. He would have seen how Theo had helped the resistance. Theo's face cracked into a smile at that. He had helped the resistance, he wasn't as evil a bastard as he thought he was. Once upon a time, he had been a decent guy, and he'd had his perfect girl, brilliant, beautiful, idealistic Padma, and he'd lost it all, because of the stupid fucking Dark Lord. He picked up Padma's empty cup and threw it across the room where it shattered against the wall. Unsatisfied he stomped around crushing and throwing everything he could get his hands on.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. From Padma's eyes he had seen what they'd had. She had loved him, loved the way he looked, the way he felt. Loved his intensity, wit, and even his dark streak. Loved how he didn't want to try to fit in, how even in his solitude, he was keenly observant of the world and how it worked. She loved him despite his messed up family. No one had loved him like that, had loved him for him. Not his father, not Astoria, or any of the other girls he had dated. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with thoughts he usually avoided. His life had turned out so badly. He was once an excellent student, who wanted to travel and become a wandmaker, and now he knew he had also once had the perfect girl. And instead of living the life he had dreamed of, he had been forced to serve a psychopath, abandon his girl, watch his father get killed, go to jail, and give up his dreams. The sum of all his failures were piling up like stones on top of his chest and making it hard to breath. He flicked his wand and the nearest photograph of his father exploded loudly.

"Theo?" Padma called faintly as she awoke rubbing her head. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Theo said unable to look at her.

"My head feels like its in a vice. Do you have a potion for the pain?" Padma asked.

Theo summoned Maple to retrieve some. Maple looked around in concern as she administered the potion to Padma and gave her a drink of water. "Are you all right now, Miss Padma Patil? You look very ill."

"I'm better now, thank you," Padma said smiling gently for Maple who seemed overly concerned. "You are very thoughtful."

Maple's ears twitched against her head and she wrung her hands. "Miss Padma Patil is too kind."

"Enough Maple, you can leave now," Theo said testily, and Maple apparated away immediately.

"That was rather rude," Padma said, her head feeling much improved.

"Leave off Padma, she's only a house-elf," Theo snapped.

"I suppose she had no feelings at all then," Padma countered.

"Do you have to have a bleeding heart for absolutedly everyone," Theo asked before turning to look at her, finding it awkward with all his newfound knowledge.

"I suppose I do," Padma said standing up. She managed to take two steps before swaying unsteadily and Theo was suddenly there supporting her with his tall lean frame. "I guess I'm still too weary to stand." Padma fought against her desire to lean her head against Theo's chest and sat back down.

"Nott, what the hell were you thinking? Merlin, we all knew you fancied her, but you couldn't just keep it in your pants for a few more weeks, could you? " Draco said loudly. Padma peeked around Theo, who flushed red, to see Malfoy standing at the door to the room and holding out a copy of the paper. "Oh, sorry, didn't realize you were here too, Padma. Good thing though, we should talk," he continued unfazed.

"Yes Draco," Padma said. "I'm sorry for the additional exposure our actions have caused for your mother's case. If you want to change attorneys I understand. I can help you petition the Wizengamot for more time if that's the case."

"You know no other half-decent attorney is going to take this case," Draco said frankly. "I just want to know what this means for my mother."

"Well, honestly, I don't think this will effect her case per se, because I trust the members of the Wizengamot to be fair. Mostly it just damages my personal reputation and they may give me a little less leeway as I argue the case," Padma admitted. "I'm very sorry Draco."

"Don't be," Draco said flopping down into a chair. "I should be the one who's sorry, if it weren't for this case, no one would care who you kissed. We never had much of a chance anyway. How does one get a cup of tea around here?"

"If you don't mind Malfoy, we were discussing something," Theo answered.

"Fine I'll leave," Malfoy said haughtily. "But if you two could keep out of the papers, that would be splendid."

"I really am sorry Draco, but there's no telling what else Rita Skeeter might write. But I can tell you that's it's all rubbish. The best thing to do at this point is not to comment on any of it. As to not add any more fuel to Skeeter's fire so to speak," Padma said.

"Will do Padma. I'll be going now. We'll talk later Nott," Draco said smirking at Theo and then swiftly exitted leaving them alone again in silence which stretched on for several seconds.

"Well, so now you know. No one else knows though, except Parvati," Padma said then groaned, Parvati was going to be furious. "I should go to the office, I'm sure Alicia is waiting for me there, I owled her this morning."

"I'll apparate you," Theo said moving towards the door.

"I think that's a bad idea, we should maintain our distance," Padma said matter-of-factly regaining her composure. "I'll just use your Floo if you don't mind."

"Of course," Theo said, ushering her to the hallway, his face stoic as well. He was glad she was going, he needed to by himself.

* * *

><p>Padma had just finished giving Alicia a brief synopsis of her history with Theo, finding it draining to tell her secret twice in one day. Hopefully no one else would need to know.<p>

"You should have told me when I hired him Padma," Alicia said.

"I thought that since he didn't remember anything it would be okay. I wanted to give him a chance to work, you know?" Padma said softly.

"Yeah, I know you Padma," Alicia said giving her a hug. "Padma, I don't want to judge you," Alicia started. "But he's our clerk, it's hardly professional to be kissing him."

"I know Alicia," Padma said. "I'm sorry, I've really made a mess of it."

"Well, I'll be stepping in now to be second on the case, so you two won't have so much alone time anymore," Alicia teased. "Do you really like him?" she asked more seriously.

"No, it's not like that Alicia, it was just a big drunken mistake."

"I see, so nothing is going on then."

"No."

"So you're not going to swoon when tall formerly-dark and lanky comes back in here."

"Certainly not."

"Okay Padma," Alicia said, but inwardly decided not to leave the two of them alone any more than necessary. She could see the toll it was taking on her friend. "Bring me up-to-date on the case then, let's get to work."

* * *

><p>When Padma got home that afternoon Parvati was in her kitchen silently scrubbing her cupboards. She only cleaned without magic when she was really stressed and had spent all her anger. Padma felt terrible as she approached her. "Paro?"<p>

Parvati kept up her scrubbing motion and ignored Padma. "Paro, I'm really sorry, don't be mad at me."

"Padma, what do you expect from me?" Parvati said slowly still staring into her cupboards. "I watched you go through hell. I watched you cry yourself to sleep every night for a month. I watched you become reckless. I watched you get tortured and smile about it like it was a good thing. I watched you life a half-life for the last four years. You've been so unhappy."

"Parvati, no. I've been fine really," Padma countered faintly. "I've been happy."

"Have you?" Parvati asked looking at her. "I don't think so, I think you've forgotten what happy really means. Do you wake up in the morning and ever feel joy. Just joy about life and its possibilities and the people who love you? Or do you wake up and feel grateful that your days are filled with tasks, endless work so you never really have to think about feelings or life anymore?"

"Parvati!" Padma exclaimed, her heart twisting with hurt, both her own, and the hurt her sister seemed to be teeming with on her behalf.

Parvati quickly rinsed off her hands, and silently walked past Padma towards the front door. Just before leaving she turned and said, "You have your big case, I know. So I'll only say this. I want you to be happy again Padma. Truly happy. Figure out what you really want. Because our lives are passing by Padma, soon I'll be married and have kids, and I won't be able to worry about you like this anymore."

Nothing anyone had ever said to Padma, not even Theo's note all those years ago, had ever made her feel worse.


	10. Chapter 10

_ Theo stared at the mask at his side, almost instinctively pulling it on before tossing it aside. There was no use for that now, the Death Eaters would walk unashamed in the light of day for this battle. He emerged from the closet where he had dressed, his brows drawing close together as he tried to steel himself for the fight. This was who he was, he believed in the supremacy of magical blood, and it was time to fight for it. The others, the rebellion, they thought they were all righteous and good, but if they had their way the magical world would not exist within a few generations. They were just unable to see that these battles had to be fought to preserve their way of life. The only problem was the madman that was leading the purebloods. No more of those thoughts, Theo cut himself off abruptly, or the Dark Lord would see his doubts..._

_ ...Theo stalked quietly down the hall, but before he made it far he heard the words, "I'm only sparing you for her sake." Theo spun around but couldn't see anyone. And then there was blackness, blackness all around him, which shimmered and suffocated him while he struggled, before it finally faded and left him gasping for breath... _

_ ...Theo stood slowly at the end of the longest corridor he had ever seen, watching a battle rage in front of him, and at the very end of the melee was his father, battling two women at once. He was torn, he both loved and resented his father, because his father had always loved the Dark Lord more than his own son or his wife. Theodore Nott Sr. and Tom Riddle were close friends at school, and his father had practically worshipped Tom. Maybe knowing that was what had soured Theo on the idea of having close friends..._

_ ...As Theo watched, his father fell, and his indecision turned to panic as he ran towards him. The battle faded around him until there were only bodies littering the floor. And then she was there, hovering over her friend, and all his rage and all his passion boiled inside him. Disgust for himself made him grit his teeth. How could he desire his enemy so much? His father lay there dead, and yet he was thinking of her. His need to be near her overwhelmed him. She was scraped up, and dirty, her school uniform shredded and filthy with blood, undoubtedly some of her own, and some of her enemy's. And none of it mattered. She drew him to her as surely as a flame drew a moth. She looked into his eyes and he fell apart. Why couldn't he have her? What a wonderful world it would be if it was just her and him together... _

_ ...He pressed her up against the wall and kissed her, and then she kissed him back, her passion for him evident as she pulled his head closer to hers. Suddenly the metallic smell of blood and the scratchy wool of her sweater faded and was replaced by her light flowery scent and the silky soft feeling of her skin as they lay in his dorm bed. If he was honest he had spent months fantasizing about having her here in his bed, and here she was moving against him, wearing sexy lacy underthings. Everything was perfect until he looked into her eyes as tears fell out of them. "How could you Theo?" she asked softly._

_ "What?" he asked, but his guilty conscience already knew what she was accusing him of._

_ "I thought you loved me," she said as tears began slipping out of her eyes. _

_ "I do, of course I do," Theo pled, tears of regret filling his eyes. Padma closed her eyes and shrank away, but he clutched at her and pulled her closer. _

_ "It burns," she cried hoarsely. Theo looked down at her body in horror. It was covered in inky black skulls everywhere he had touched her with his marked arm. They were writhing and hissing. _

_ Theo sat up quickly picking her up, desperate to help her, but her body slackened in his arms. _

_ "Why did you poison my life?" she gasped with her last breath before a trickle of blood spilled out of the side of her mouth._

_ Theo reached for his wand to cast a healing spell. But it wasn't there on the table near his bed which morphed into the cot in his cell at Azkaban. He had no wand here. He sat with Padma held close, on the filthy sheets of the cot. Dull light filtered in from outside his tiny window and the dank smell of his cell assaulted his senses. He cried out for help, but was met only with the half-crazed jeers of his fellow inmates. He looked down at the girl he loved who glowed in death brighter than all the gray surrounding him. _

_ "No," Theo cried shaking her lifeless body. "No..."_

Theo woke with a start. He lay awake freezing as the sweat accumulated during his dream evaporated from his naked chest and torso, horrified that details from Padma's memories had incorporated themselves into his recurring nightmares. Parvati was right, he had done enough to mess up Padma's life. She deserved more than a convict who would forever be shadowed by the crimes he had committed.

After the article was published, Parvati had confronted him here in his house. She had stormed in and looked ready to yell her rebuke at him. Instead she pled with him. "When you ended it the first time, Padma just changed. She was so reckless, it's like she didn't care if she lived or died," Parvati had said softly, never looking away from his eyes. "It's been years, and she finally has a semblance of a life and a little happiness. Please, I'm begging you. I'm begging you for my sister's life. You have no idea how in love with you she was. I know her, she wouldn't be able to survive this again. Just leave her be."

Parvati had left before Theo could find the words to reassure her that he wouldn't be interfering in Padma's life any more. He would leave. As soon as the case was over. He would leave.

He wouldn't be able to sleep now. Even though it was hours before sunrise, he got ready and headed off to work. He may have fucked a lot of things up, but at least he could devote himself to Mrs. Malfoy's case and help bring some peace to his friend's family. He had a crazy idea he was working on, but needed more evidence before he could tell anyone. He apparated to the door of the office and opened it with the key Alicia had given him, ready to lose himself in his investigations for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Padma and Alicia's heels clicked on the floor as they walked down a cold stone corridor in Azkaban, with Theo following two steps behind, looking as stoic and serious as ever. A few guards stared at her and Theo as they walked by, and Padma could tell the exact moment when recognition dawned on their faces. Needless to say, the newfound attention was making her miserable, but what could she do? She'd made her bed, it was time to sleep in it. At least Gus was away on his trip and she wouldn't have to face him this time. She rather liked the kind middle-aged guard and didn't want him to think badly of her.<p>

They were here to begin preparing Narcissa for the trial. The prosecution would be relentless and public opinion was against her. She would have to face it all and remain confident in her answers as well as her innocence.

Padma practiced questions and answers with Narcissa for some time before Alicia had stepped in to play the prosecution, cross-examining her with particular ferocity trying to force errors out of Narcissa's testimony.

"You're doing remarkably well," Alicia offered after some time, "You haven't altered your story at all."

"It's much easier when you're telling nothing but the simple truth and just hoping for the best," Narcissa smiled sadly.

"Let's take a break Mrs. Malfoy," Padma said gesturing Alicia to a corner where she shared some notes about Narcissa's testimony and possible areas of attack. Theo saw his opportunity to talk to Mrs. Malfoy privately and moved to the seat next to her.

"Yes Theo dear," Narcissa said her gaze subconsciously moving between Theo and Padma.

"I was just wondering Mrs. Malfoy," Theo started. "When Voldemort had the prisoners held at Malfoy Manor, did you ever talk to them?"

Narcissa looked away and sighed deeply before answering. "I didn't talk to them much. He had forbidden it, and we were already in his ill graces. Sometimes their screaming echoed through the upper floors of the manor, I just did my best to ignore them."

"Did you ever hear what Voldemort questioned them about," Theo lowered his voice slightly. "With Ollivander, did you ever hear what he asked?"

Narcissa shivered slightly while thinking back to the time when her immaculately kept precious family home had been turned into a prison both for its inhabitants and those unfortunate enough to be brought there by that terrifying, psychotic, and powerful wizard. His method of questioning had led to screams echoing through the entire house, leaving even bystanders shocked into cowering in the nearest alcove. "I did hear him sometimes, when he'd forget to place a silencing spell. He mostly questioned him about something, an object, that he seemed to believe Ollivander had. He'd also ask about wands, after he took Lucius' wand, he wanted to know how wands matched to wizards. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure, just curious I guess," Theo said. "This object, do you know what it was?"

"I haven't the first clue, I never wanted to know anything more than I had to where the Dark Lord was concerned," Narcissa said. "Theo dear, I talked to Draco recently. I know I'm hardly fit to ask, being in prison and all, but how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Malfoy," Theo asked mildly surprised. "I've been through much worse in my life, a little expose article won't phase me."

"I didn't really mean the article, Draco implied, well nevermind," Narcissa waved away the idea. "I just wanted to ask. Your mother was quiet but sweet and I sometimes think... we all failed your generation. I just hope you're okay."

Theo startled a little at the mention of his mother, but understood the message Narcissa was trying to convey. "I really am doing well Mrs. Malfoy," Theo answered. "And so is Draco I think. We'll all be okay, please don't worry."

"Forgive me Theo, but Lucius and I, your parents, a lot of us made such terrible mistakes. We should be made to feel it," Narcissa finished seriously.

Padma interrupted their discussion just then to begin a second round of practice questioning. Theo sat back watching, his mind spinning with all he had discussed with Mrs. Malfoy.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the prison, at the end of an eighth floor corridor a prisoner sniffed the air and smiled to himself. His tasty morsel had returned, she would be luscious to sink his teeth into. And what was this, the Death Eater pup was back as well. No matter. It was time to have some fun.<p>

* * *

><p>Once their time was up, Alicia returned to the main office to fill out paperwork, while Theo and Padma escorted Narcissa back up to her cell. This was a truly miserable place, Padma thought to herself as Narcissa's cell was resealed by the guard, she would need a glass of wine and a nice book by a warm fire when she got home to help chase away the damp chill. She glanced at Theo, who had done a formidable job of maintaining an aloof professional distance from her since she had shared knowledge of their past with him. He face looked ashen and he stepped quickly in a sort of panic as they walked behind the guard. She really wished he would have declined to come instead of torturing himself.<p>

"Theo," Padma whispered so the guard escorting them wouldn't hear. "You look horrific, like an angry ghost. You're depressing me, I'm not bringing you next time."

Theo merely glared at her indignantly in response, but Padma smirked back confidently and finally he shook his head smirking himself. There that's better, she thought.

Soon they arrived at the lift opposite Greyback's cell. Padma was happy to be with the guard this time, Greyback wouldn't be able to go on as he had last time.

She heard a faint growling, and sighed, well so much for that thought. "You've returned vixen," Greyback said moving towards the front of his cell, "I've been waiting for you."

Padma ignored him, and thankfully so did Theo. The guard however gave him a fierce scowl before turning away.

"Oh darling, I can smell you, you're ready for me," the werewolf continued earning a scowl from Theo this time as well. Greyback then made a dramatic show of sniffing the air. The guard drew his wand and carelessly shot a silencing spell at the werewolf. It was the moment Greyback had waited for. As the spell crossed through the ward it shimmered and weakened ever so slightly and Greyback used this opportunity to force through. Even weakened, the ward would have held almost anyone else but the werewolf possessed truly brutal strength.

The filthy towering prisoner crossed to the other side and Padma would have passed out from fright had it not been for all her training. The guard attempted to cast a spell to contain the werewolf but Greyback moved quickly knocking the guard and Theo hard against the wall before advancing on Padma. Her mind was racing, she had no wand and couldn't outrun him. She threw her briefcase past him and triggered the alarm on the wall. Other guards would be there soon.

"Don't worry precious, I'll be done before they get here," he said gruffly advancing on her. He doesn't smell bad, Padma thought to herself as he closed in on her, she had been expecting him to have a foul staid stench, but he smelled like nothing at all, clearly he actually washed himself. Stupid mind, what are you doing, focus on getting free. He pulled her tight and growled in her ear and she kneed him hard but he only laughed casually. She felt his nails digging into her side. Then he abruptly let her go and began shaking before keeling over. Thank the gods those guards are fast, Padma thought. But she looked over and saw Theo standing with difficulty and clutching the disabled guard's wand. He cast a few more defensive charms on the werewolf though he was already thoroughly knocked out, and Padma laughed out of relief before stepping over the werewolf's body and walking up to Theo but stopped herself shy of giving her hero the hug she wanted to bestow.

"You all right?" she asked smiling. A little battle action after a long hiatus had provided a most welcome rush of adrenaline and sense of perspective. She had almost been raped and killed by a werewolf. It made all her other problems seem not so important. Theo looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Yeah fine, what about you?" he asked.

"I'm fine, just a little scared" she said, still smiling and stepping closer so she could surreptitiously give his hand a squeeze. She looked at his face happily, while he stared grumpily back for several seconds before the guards finally showed up.

* * *

><p>Padma finally had that glass of wine that she'd been thinking about to chase away the chill of Azkaban and to quell her nerves which were still a bit on edge. Far away on the Nott Estate, the master of the mansion put away his fourth shot of firewhiskey, trying desperately to keep his own mind under control.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Padma, Alicia, and Theo were seated around the conference table going over the preparation for their most important interview of the case-Harry Potter. He was the only one with any direct knowledge of the deal between Snape and Dumbledore, and the only one who could shed any light on whether Snape executed Dumbledore because of Narcissa's vow or in spite of it.

They had been working continuously for days with the office discussions limited to the case or who would fetch dinner for the group. Theo had offered to have his house-elves cater the meals, but both Alicia and Padma had protested against it as overgenerous and too large a break with their tradition of retrieving food from Muggle London. As it was nearly dinner and her turn to go, Padma donned her cloak pulling her hood down over her head and left.

Alicia and Theo were alone together in a companionable silence, which Theo broke after several minutes. "Alicia, after the case is over I think it would be best if I leave the firm."

Alicia looked up at Theo who had grown even more taciturn and contemplative over the last few days. "I can't say I'm surprised Theo, given what's happened, but are you sure? You are quite good and learning fast. Would you like my help in finding a position for you in another firm?"

"No, thank you, that won't be necessary. I'm leaving law altogether. I don't think it was ever really the right choice for me."

"What will you be doing then?"

"I'm not sure. I had an offer to study wand-making with a master in Germany at one point. I might write and ask him to take me on."

Alicia nodded, "Have you told Padma?"

"Not yet," Theo said without a hint of emotion. "But I think she'll agree that it would be best for me to leave for a while so that her reputation doesn't get further damaged on my account."

Alicia nodded and then pushed her papers away from her. "I think you should absolutely pursue this opportunity if it's what you want to do Theo. Even in this short time I've seen that you are a very talented wizard. But with Padma this kind of stuff is bound to happen. It's a picture of you and her this time, and it'll be something else next time. She's always going to take on the sort of cases that the rest of the world won't understand. I think at heart she has a hard time believing that some cases are just open and shut acts of criminality. She always wants to find out what led people to do whatever it is they've done. People will always find it strange that she chooses to defend wizards and witches that seem so overwhelmingly guilty, and undoubtably some will resent her for it. I don't think she'd want you to leave because of her."

Just then, Padma returned with boxes of delicious smelling Greek food.

"Harry should be here soon, so I picked up something for him as well in case he's hungry," Padma said while arranging the food on the table. Once they had started eating Harry arrived. He was extremely nervous about the interview, but his hunger quickly distracted him and he announced that he was in fact 'starving'. After eating he was a little more relaxed.

"Harry, I know you've given this testimony about Dumbledore's death before during Professor Snape's Order of Merlin inquiry, but we're going to ask that you testify at Narcissa Malfoy's trial as well," Padma started as Harry nodded solemnly while nervously glancing at Theo and Alicia. "In your testimony you said that Professor Dumbledore had asked Professor Snape to kill him when the time came in order for Professor Snape to prove his loyalty to Voldemort, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," Harry answered.

"Do you know if Professor Snape made the Vow to Narcissa before or after making his promise to Dumbledore?" Padma asked.

"Snape had already agreed to kill Professor Dumbledore when he made the Unbreakable Vow," Harry answered solemnly.

"Are you sure Harry, this is a crucial detail for our case," Alicia asked seriously.

"Yes I am. I'll testify to it before the Wizengamot," Harry reassured her.

"Harry, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this fact might help prove Narcissa innocent. If Dumbledore's killing was already planned, than we can try to show that her Vow was irrelevant to his Death. So in the end it boils down to this, and I hate to have to ask you to relive that horrible night again, but when Professor Snape finally did fulfill both his promise and his Vow, do you think he would have done it if not for the Vow?" Padma looked apologetic as she pressed Harry for these details. Harry definitely had no great desire to talk about it.

"Yes I think he would have. I think he would've done anything Dumbledore asked him to," Harry said shifting uncomfortably. "Though I imagine making the Vow helped him in a way, ensured that when the time came he couldn't back out. I know he definitely didn't want to do it, it made him sick, he thought of Dumbledore as a father almost."

"Of course," Padma said, pausing to collect herself. "Harry, your opinion here is based on Professor Snape's memories and your conversation with Dumbledore after he had died, correct?"

"Yes, I realize that not everyone will believe me, half the people at the Order of Merlin hearing didn't even buy it." Harry shrugged at that. He knew he would have to do an even better job of selling his unlikely story this time, if he was going to convince the Wizengamot to find Narcissa innocent.

"Well," Alicia interjected, "Professor Snape was a master of memory magic and there are very few documented cases of communication with the dead. If it wasn't you Harry, I wouldn't think it was reliable either. However your testimony will really help us build our circumstantial case Harry, thanks."

"Was that the only reason?" Theo asked suddenly breaking his silence.

"What?" Harry said, having almost forgotten Theo was there.

"Was that the only reason Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him? Because he was dying anyway, and this would get Snape into Voldemort's inner circle?" Theo elaborated staring at Harry intently. Well that was a sensitive way to put it, Harry thought frowning.

Harry paused holding his breath for a few seconds before answering, "Yes I think so."

Theo continued, "Well Snape was already a favorite of Voldemort's and he wouldn't have to kill Dumbledore himself. Any of the Death Eaters that night could have done it and the fact that Snape did nothing to stop them would have been testament enough of his loyalty. It's also strange that they would have plotted this almost a year in advance. How could Dumbledore possibly know how everything would play out?"

Padma watched Theo interrogate Harry quietly, having no idea where he was going with his questioning. "What other reason could Dumbledore possibly have Theo, I'm not sure what you're getting at," Padma said trying to ease the palpable tension building between Theo and Harry.

"I think he knows," Theo said continuing to stare at Harry.

Harry's face hardened with resolve, "I don't know what you mean." Padma panicked, wondering why exactly was Theo trying to put off the star witness in let's face it, their otherwise feeble defense. Though Padma had to admit, the more she thought about it, the more shaky this explanation for Dumbledore plotting his own death sounded. The other side would definitely try to punch a hole in this part of their case.

"Was there a more magical reason for Dumbledore to have Snape kill him? Something that might pass from Dumbledore to the person that killed him for instance?" Theo asked, his own uneasiness now showing while Alicia and Padma watched mystified.

Harry blanched but said nothing. There's no way he knows, there's no way he knows, Harry thought desperately.

Theo sat back and rubbed his hands through his hair, "Dear Merlin, it's true isn't it, Dumbledore really did have it."

Harry and Theo continued staring at each other, panic and nervousness increasingly played across both of their faces. "Shit, that's why he killed Snape then. He never did know he was double-crossing him. And now you have it," Theo babbled. "And I told him, I told him how it would have passed on. I might as well have killed Snape myself. Fuck!" Theo yelled as he stood up from the table and toppled his chair backwards.

"Calm down," Alicia said raising her arms in confusion. "What exactly is going on here?"

"It's a secret," Harry said evenly, though his pallor betrayed his anxiety.

"You still have it?" Theo said shocked. "You're an Auror for god's sake. You take a terrible risk. What happens when some criminal bests you some day?"

Harry looked down and if Padma didn't know any better, she'd say he looked both worried and ashamed. "Please Harry, can you tell me what's happening here, what is it that you have and why did Theo just say that he's responsible for Snape's death?"

"How could you possibly know?" Harry directed his question at Theo.

"The Dark Lord was in a panic, he even condescended to asking me why a wand might not work, knowing that I wanted to be a wandmaker some day. And I told him, I told him how wands that had powers of their own had to be won in order for the powers to transfer."

"Why the hell would you tell him that?" Harry fumed.

"Merlin Potter, I didn't know that he had a wand like that. I didn't even know any existed. And who the hell would think that it could be that wand, everyone thought that was about as real as Pandora's box. And besides, if I hadn't told him he would have taken the knowledge right out of my mind and killed me for resisting. I should have just let him, now I have one more crime to atone for."

"What wand? Please can someone tell us what's going on?" Alicia interjected.

"It's a dangerous secret that only a few of us know, well at least I used to think so," Harry said worried.

"I think I can safely say I'm the last Death Eater that knows," Theo said. "Voldemort guarded the secret of the wand's existence well. I only figured it out while investigating this case. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that having Snape kill him was a poor strategy for Dumbledore, because he had to know the school and the Ministry would fall as soon as he died. Why give up his life so easily? I knew there had to be some other reason and then I pieced together my conversations with Voldemort about wandlore and his ransacking of Dumbledore's grave. I thought my theory was too ridiculous to possibly be true." Theo paused before continuing slowly. "Dumbledore had the Elder Wand, which passed to Snape, then to Voldemort, and now to Potter. That's why Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him, he wanted the wand to pass on to him."

Alicia and Padma stared at Theo, neither knowing quite what to say. Obviously Theo had lost his mind, right? Padma looked at Harry, waiting for him to deny the story. "Almost right," Harry said, contemplating how he could contain this secret that this former classmate and Death Eater had guessed. "Except it never passed to Snape or Voldemort, it passed to Malfoy, who disarmed Dumbledore before he died, then to me. And Dumbledore never meant for the wand to pass on at all. He wanted to destroy the power of the Elder Wand, so it could never fall into the wrong hands or corrupt another wizard. He thought if he let himself be killed, the power of the wand would die with him."

"What Harry, there really is an Elder Wand, like in the fairy tale, and you really do have it?" Alicia exclaimed. Harry could see he would need to explain everything to the girls. He spent half an hour describing how the wand was real and how it had passed on through history and finally come to him. The girls went from total shock to hanging on his every word. By the time he described the powers the wand possessed and the importance of secrecy the girls' shock had faded and their minds were racing to process this new information.

"That explains why Dumbledore and Snape colluded in his murder, it never was about the Vow at all," Padma quickly rattled off. "Narcissa didn't cause Dumbledore's death. She should be found innocent. Will you testify to all this Harry, will you be able to produce the Elder Wand to prove it?"

"You all have to understand. This has to be kept secret. Knowledge that the wand is real and that I have it would wreak havoc. Every maniac out there will try to get it, and imagine having another Voldemort but now with an unstoppable wand. I could never testify publicly to any of this, and you mustn't say anything about it either. Padma and Alicia, I think I can trust you, but Theo you were a Death Eater, and frankly I don't know you at all. I need to ensure you won't tell anyone. Have you told anyone already?"

"Of course I haven't. I may have been a Death Eater Potter, but I never had any love for Voldemort and I certainly have no desire to serve any more power-hungry maniacs," Theo said while Harry tried to read Theo's face to ascertain the veracity of his statements. "You're not carrying it," Theo said staring at the wand Harry had subconsciously drawn.

"Of course not, I'm not an idiot," Harry responded.

"Harry, Narcissa's life may depend on your testimony. I understand the need for secrecy, I truly do, but there must be something we can do," Padma said.

"I'm sorry Padma, I can't. I will do my best to convince the Wizengamot that the Vow had nothing to do with Dumbledore's death. I owe Mrs. Malfoy my life. Hell, I'll lie if I have to. But you have to understand this has to stay a secret," Harry said resolutely.

"Why not destroy it Harry? Unless you intend to use it?" Alicia asked.

"I don't want it, and I've tried everything I could to destroy it. It's just impossible. Even Dumbledore couldn't come up with anything except for having himself killed and even that failed," Harry said frustrated.

"I think there may be a way to destroy it Harry," Theo said.

"What? What is it?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Well, there is a story of another wand with special properties like the Elder wand. It was created in the twelfth century and could be used to cast unbreakable Imperius curses and passed on from wizard to wizard much like the Elder wand. It came into the possession of a depraved young wizard in the fifteenth century who used it to curse young women and take advantage of them. He did this to dozens of victims until one day he cursed a young muggleborn and killed her. However this girl had a Muggle sister who became infuriated and hatched a plan to get revenge. One night, she seduced the wizard, and when he was vulnerable she stabbed him with a poisoned dagger, but he fought back. He cast curse after curse at her, but she was able to dodge the worst of his curses because of his weakened state. In the end she disarmed him and grabbed his wand. As soon as she lay her hands on the wand, it turned to dust and was destroyed."

"But why was it destroyed?" Harry asked.

"Like the Elder wand, it was passed from one wizard to another when the new owner defeated the old one. The magic of such wands is sustained by binding to the magic of their owners. When the owner of this wand was defeated by the Muggle girl, it passed to her. Because she had no magical powers the wand could no longer be sustained and was destroyed."

"I've never heard of this story Theo, where did you hear it?" Harry asked.

"The wand was considered a dark object because of the nature of the power it possessed. I read about it in a dodgy book someone gave me," Theo answered glancing at Padma, who swallowed knowing perfectly well which book he was referring to.

"So to destroy the wand, Harry would have to lose it to a Muggle?" she asked after a few seconds. Harry couldn't believe he had never thought of it.

"I think it might work," Theo offered.

"Or the wand would end up the belonging to some Muggle and be even more vulnerable than it is now?" Harry questioned.

"I suppose, though you could always just win it back as long as you're confident you could defeat a Muggle," Theo added smugly. "The greater difficulty is in finding a Muggle that could win it, truly win it in battle. The wand, as I'm sure you've figured out Harry, has an incredible ability to preserve itself, as it seems to have done despite Dumbledore's suicidal plan to destroy it. You cannot simply hand it to some Muggle and have it destroyed."

A contemplative silence settled over the group of four, until Harry finally spoke. "I will consider your idea, but for now I need each of you to make an Unbreakable Vow that you have not told and will not tell anyone of the existence of the wand unless we manage to destroy it. If we do, I promise to testify to the whole thing at Mrs. Malfoy's trial."

Padma and Alicia quickly agreed, trusting Harry's reasoning about the importance of secrecy regarding the wand. Theo took the vow begrudgingly, and Harry was on the verge of obliviating him in case he refused or tried to flee. After the vows were completed Padma offered a thought that had been stewing in her mind ever since Theo mentioned his idea for destroying the wand.

"Harry, I know a Muggle that might be able to win the wand from you."

"Who?"

"Have you met Lavender Brown's boyfriend?"

* * *

><p>It was nearly midnight when the crowd assembled in the law offices of Spinnet and Patil finally dispersed. Harry had sent Patronuses to Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Hermione had been shocked by the simplicity of Theo's idea but had agreed that it might work. She seemed angry that she hadn't thought of it before, but Ron happily gloated that she couldn't expect to be perfect at everything. Soon Padma sent for Lavender who arrived with her muggle boyfriend. Lavender seemed none too happy about taking an Unbreakable Vow nor about their plan when they finally told her. Her boyfriend, David, however took everything in stride and readily agreed to participate despite Lavender's urgings against it. The plan was set to take place the following evening, and a feeling of simultaneous exhaustion and anxiety settled over the group.<p>

As the others started leaving, Padma studied Theo, who despite being the author of their great idea for destroying the wand had quickly been marginalized as the group of former DA members talked and plotted. Padma could see he was agonizing over something. "What is it Theo?" she said softly as drew close to him. "Is it about Snape's Death? Because you heard what Harry said, Ollivander also told Voldemort the same thing."

"We can share the blame then," Theo said coldly as he moved away.

"Theo please, don't do this to yourself," Padma told him.

"Get off it Padma, you always wanted to see me as some kind of misunderstood bad boy with an unfortunate family. The truth is I fucked up. I tortured people, I helped get Professor Snape killed, I helped the Death Eaters, I did all those things. And you know what, when I was doing them I didn't even think they were wrong. What kind of person does that make me Padma? A bad person. And I know I'll fuck up again someday, I didn't know I was doing it the first time, who's to say it won't happen again. There's no real redemption for people like me, I just get to exist out here in the free world for a while until I end up back in there. Maybe for Snape's murder this time? Or maybe for something else. So please, leave off, I'm not normal and I won't ever be," Theo glared at her before stomping towards the door.

Padma stood shocked for several moments before realizing everyone had left. She ran out the door to try and chase Theo down but he was gone. She stood alone for a few minutes choking down the lump rising in her throat with her wand outstretched before the Knight Bus pulled up.

"Hello there lovely lady," Stan the conductor said cheerfully before frowning at Padma's appearance. "Hey what's wrong?"


	12. Chapter 12

The rain was pouring down onto the hood of Padma's long black leather coat where she stood still next to an ancient tree that grew twisted and knotted, spreading its uneven spring canopy dozens of feet above her head. Padma refrained from using her wand so she could remain hidden and did her best to try to see by the limited moonlight that shone through the clouds. The rest of them were all out there, Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Theo and Alicia, and Lavender and her Muggle boyfriend David.

The plan was simple. David had chosen the forest terrain as optimal for him to fight Harry for the wand. The rest were spread out to assist David only if dire need arose, since it was imperative that David be the one to defeat Harry. Hermione had constructed an anti-apparition ward that spread for a few square miles to limit Harry's advantage and the ability of anyone else to escape with the wand. Theo had made it clear that Harry could not hesitate in trying to defend the wand from David or the wand might abandon him as it had done Dumbledore.

Padma wasn't sure if the plan would work, but if any Muggle could defeat Harry it was David. He was some kind of super soldier or was it special soldier in the Muggle military. Lavender had literally swooned when she had first met the well-built man with blond hair and dimples after he had chased down and tackled some gruff hooligan who had stolen her bag. Since then, she talked all the time about how wonderful and talented 'her David' was. Normally Padma would have been put off, but David had turned out to be a fun humble sort of person who also exuded a certain dangerousness it was hard to miss. His quick reflexes, hyper-awareness of his surroundings, and easy confidence made Padma think he could deal with almost anything he encountered.

Oh gods, I hope David will be all right, Padma thought. He was the most talented Muggle she knew, but did he really have a chance against a wizard, especially a wizard like Harry? They were all hiding in various places around a large field, where Harry stood in the middle waiting for David to make his move. Padma could see Harry but couldn't locate any of the others. She wondered what Theo was doing, what he was thinking. She badly wanted to run out into the woods to try to find him, and talk to him, slap some sense into him, kiss him.

Padma straightened, she had to stay alert. She was in a battle and Narcissa's life as well as the fate of one of the most dangerous magical objects on the planet hung in the balance. Finally a flare arced through the sky, buzzing loudly, and illuminating the field. Harry turned to track its progress as it flew while a shadow moved quickly towards him. It had begun. Before David could reach Harry, he turned and cast a stunning spell towards David, who rolled to avoid the spell and stood right back into a run and clashed with Harry. Padma eased out from under the tree and edged toward the field. Harry was knocked down but now David was retreating and being chased by a large snake Harry had conjured. He ducked behind a boulder where he promptly decapitated the snake while Harry, now limping slightly, continued to launch his curses. David threw something over his shoulder that erupted into blackness, Peruvian instant darkness powder, Padma realized. He had come prepared. He ran into the dark cloud as Harry cast stunning spells randomly into the darkness. David emerged and threw a knife as he ran forward that Harry dodged but which left a cut along his left arm. Harry cried out and clutched at the wound for a moment before sending a curse towards David which had him flying back towards the trees to Padma's right.

Padma started moving foward intending to intervene, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Not yet," Theo whispered. "Give him a chance." How long has he been standing behind me she wondered. She was getting rusty.

Harry jogged towards the treeline where David had disappeared. Theo gestured for Padma to follow him through the trees in the same direction. Cold raindrops stabbed at their faces and hands as they moved swiftly. They heard Lavender cry out and simultaneously broke into a run. Soon they saw Lavender attacking Harry who was dodging her spells by running through the trees.

"I was only trying to defend the wand, Lavender, please understand," Harry yelled out.

"You killed my David Harry, I'm going to kill you!" Lavender yelled back.

"Let's find him first Lavender and see if he's okay," Harry tried to reason, but it was no use, Lavender was furious.

"Let's go find David," Padma whispered and Theo nodded. They continued moving quickly through the trees scanning as they went. About a hundred yards away from the ongoing fight between Lavender and Harry, they found David, who was disentangling himself from several large balloons that had cushioned his fall.

"David," Padma said running up and helping him. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am," David said smiling and showing off his dimples. "I'm not a total idiot, I came prepared with a few tricks of my own. This is bloody good fun fighting a wizard. Now where is Harry?" He said cutting himself free from the last of the balloons.

"Busy trying to avoid getting killed by your girlfriend. We'd better hurry," Theo said seriously as Lavender's screaming echoed through the woods. The three quickly ran back towards the clearing where Lavender was wildly attacking Harry who was deftly deflecting her curses.

"David!" Harry exclaimed when they re-entered the clearing and became distracted just long enough for Lavender's already launched Expelliarmus to hit him square in the chest. He went flying backwards while the Elder Wand launched itself through the air and hit Lavender in the head. She bent to pick it up slowly coming to the realization of what she had done.

"Get ready to defend yourself honey," David said softly while moving towards Lavender at a menacingly slow pace.

"David, I was so worried about you, you're okay," Lavender said tears filling her eyes as she ran towards him and carelessly flung the wand away into the air as she ran.

Padma stared at the wand in awe. Such a powerful object just hanging there. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the wand move in a perfect parabola, first up and then down in a slow descent until it altered abruptly from its trajectory straight in her direction. She had barely a moment for her mind to register her alarm before she realized the wand wasn't coming to her but to Theo who had yelled Accio and snatched it out of the air. Her feet had already pushed off from the earth when she turned for one last look at his face and saw the determination that she knew would be there. Her boots pounded on the ground as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards David whom she pushed back with a spell into a thick crop of trees before diving in herself. In the meantime Theo had already stunned Harry and Lavender who now lay motionless in the middle of the clearing.

The wand almost pulsed with power in Theo's hand. The curses and charms he recited were executed perfectly and with extraordinary ease. Never had he felt so powerful. He stunned Lavender with barely a flick and Harry managed to fight back for only a few moments before he went down. Such a perfect tool, Theo thought to himself. He could accomplish so much with it. He could have anything, no one would be able to resist him. The wand felt so right, giving it up felt ridiculous now, one might as well ask Theo to cut off his own arm. But he had to find that Muggle. The one who had so far proven totally ineffective at claiming the wand. Theo smirked as he strode towards the trees.

"Well, well," David's voice called out to him. "Looks like I have to win the wand from a _dark_ wizard now. This should make it more interesting."

Theo shot a curse towards the voice that landed uselessly on a tall tree trunk.

"Show yourself, Muggle, let's get on with this."

"I think I'll take it slow if it's all the same to you," David called, this time from a different part of the forest.

"It's understandable. At this point I would have expected you to have grown scared of fighting a wizard. You may surrender honorably," Theo said.

"No, I think not, don't want Lavender to think I'm not up to the challenge. Besides, why would I be scared of a grown man who wears a long dress and walks around with a fancy stick?" David's voice came from a different direction again. He was circling Theo realized.

Theo huffed, but didn't have a chance to retort before he was simultaneously attacked from either side by Hermione and Ron. Theo wasn't great at defending himself, but his superior charm abilities allowed him to quickly disarm Ron and transfigure him into a squirrel with shockingly red hair who hurriedly scurried away. Hermione however caught him with a stinging hex that made it hard to breath before he finally bested her with a stunning spell that the wand seemed to cast all by itself. Wow, the wand truly did have a mind of its own.

"Enough," Theo croaked when he could breathe easily again. "Come out and fight me, win the wand if you can. Otherwise I might make a run for it and just keep the wand. You wouldn't want that would you Muggle?"

"We came here to see if I, a Muggle, could best a wizard and win that wand. You wouldn't leave until the fight is complete. I thought you wizards had a sense of honor. Or is that all wizards except the Notts?" David taunted.

"I was in Slytherin, not Gryffindor. I'm sure your chatterbox girlfriend told you all about the houses. My sense of honor doesn't extend to foolishness," Theo smirked.

"That explains why she's a hero and you went to prison then. Tell me Theo, did they let you perform magic in Azkaban? Or did you have to exist like one of us lowly Muggles? All weak and pathetic," David said circling closer.

"Stop stalling and show yourself," Theo growled back.

Another cloud of instant darkness powder suddenly appeared near Theo and soon after David was upon him, stabbing him in the leg before Theo caught him with a jinx which sent him reeling back into the woods.

Theo quickly sealed the wound in his leg before taking off after David. "Face it David, you are too weak. With this wand I am near invincible. We must abandon this plan."

"I won't lie, my whole body feels like shit right now," David breathed out heavily from behind a large tree. "But if I've learned anything, it that everyone has a weakness. Your weakness for instance is that you haven't committed to the dark or the light, you have no anchor."

"You know nothing about me."

"I know enough. I have a chatterbox girlfriend, remember? She keeps me well acquainted with the all the gossip about everyone," David's voice was getting farther away as Theo tried to stalk him. "Which reminds me of your other weakness."

David slipped out of the woods, about fifty yards in front of Theo, holding Padma tightly, her back to his chest and a knife to her neck. "Let her go," Theo growled out, his wand ready to cast a spell.

"I think not, she's the only leverage I have at the moment. I'm not going to let you get away with the wand, and I'm betting you want her alive," David said casually. "I saw the pictures you know. Do you think she enjoyed kissing you or Seamus more? I love that Seamus, he's a really great guy you know. She was smiling in the photo with Seamus and crying in the one with you. Why was that?"

"I know what you're trying to do," Theo said edging closer. "I'm not foolish enough to be baited like this. You wouldn't hurt her."

"You really think so? What if I told you that a few us here today made a pact. We swore to do whatever was necessary to protect the wand from anyone but Harry, even lay down our lives, and that Padma here was one of those people. Sound like something she might do? Neither of us will let you walk out of here with the wand Theo. I'll kill her if I have to and she'd let me," David said without a trace of mirth on his face.

"David," Padma said her voice straining, "This won't work."

"I think you underestimate yourself Padma," David said reassuringly.

"You wouldn't hurt her, you're bluffing," Theo spat out angrily.

"Have it your way then," David stated seriously. "I'm sorry about this Padma, you were always a good friend," with those words David swung Padma around quickly while her eyes closed in resignation. Holding his knife with the right hand and pushing with the flat of his left he deftly thrust the knife into Padma's chest. His execution was flawless and efficient, like some morbid piece of machinery. The rain pelted down onto Padma's hair and face after her hood fell back and she staggered two paces before crumpling to the ground. David fled the scene for the cover of the trees within moments, but it hardly mattered. Theo's focus was solely on Padma. He could get to her and fix her with the Elder wand, he knew he could. He just had to get there and hope that she wasn't already dead.

When he was only a few paces away, and less than a second from helping her, the woman he knew he loved, David was there upon him, fighting him with such brutal skill in such close proximity that Theo had no chance to cast any spells. He helplessly held to the wand knowing he'd need it to fix Padma. But it was no use, within seconds David had Theo held fast face-down in the mud and wrenched the wand painfully from Theo's grip. It was no consolation to Theo that he had been right. Within moments of the transfer of the Elder Wand to David it begin to quake faintly and then disintegrated into ash before scattering in the wind and rain.

Temporarily shocked by having actually accomplished his mission, David eased his grip on Theo who fought free and drew his own wand as he scrambled to Padma where David's knife still protruded from her jacket. She lay perfectly still with her eyes closed, unconscious or dead, Theo didn't take the time to tell for sure. He withdrew the knife in one swift stroke and tossed it aside. He ripped open her coat and then all the layers she wore underneath desperate to get to the wound just above her heart so he could seal it.

"It's over," David's voice called out softly.

**A/N Sorry about the cliffhanger guys. I didn't really want to end it there, but the next chapter is too long to join together. To make it up, I'm planning on finishing up all the remaining chapters and posting them all at once, but it may take a few weeks. Thanks again to all my reviewers!**


	13. Chapter 13

Padma panted as quietly as she could manage while standing straight with her back against a tree. She could hear spells being fired in the clearing behind them as she stared into David's eyes, searching within them for some glimmer of a plan.

"How dangerous is he now?" David questioned her instead. "Is he susceptible to its power? Will he try to keep the wand?"

Padma struggled with herself. She had always wanted to believe Theo was a good guy at heart, but was he? "I, I can't be sure. I think he will try to fight you first, but if he wins...I don't know," Padma whispered to David, who's eyes hardened with resolve.

Padma could see his mind racing, plotting. She turned to peak through the branches at Theo. Hermione and Ron came into view and Padma sighed with relief. The legendary husband and wife might be able to stop Theo. But Theo and the wand had them leveled in seconds. She swallowed down her rising apprehension.

"Padma, I'm going to use you to stop him. I might have to hurt you, badly, but I promise I'll do everything possible to make you well as quickly as I can. All right?" David asked.

Padma completely re-entered her warrior mindset. Sacrifices had to be made and pain and suffering were largely beside the point. "Yes David, do what you have to. But you should know I may not be very good bait."

David smiled a confused crooked smile, "You're all I got so I'm willing to bet you'll be perfect."

David squeezed her hand and signaled her to follow him. After a bout of fighting with Theo, he bantered and tried to agitate him as they moved quickly through the woods. He drew to a sudden stop and grabbed Padma's arm who nodded her assent to him. He dragged her from the shelter of the trees into the clearing where the chilly rain ruined the clarity of the moonlight. Far away Theo stood with the wand and to Padma's eyes looked every inch the powerful ambitious Slytherin. He almost pulsed with power, so perfectly matched was the wand to him. His tall thin figure in the long black battle cloak, with a face of sharp facets and angles seemed to her at that moment the exact storybook depiction of a dark wizard.

David dug the edge of his blade into her throat to halt Theo's progress. There was almost no pain and only a small trickle of blood flowed down from the point of the blade. She knew David would do whatever was necessary to keep Theo from getting away with the wand. She readied herself for more pain if David decided to resort to it. Within seconds, before she could properly digest what David was saying, he'd spun her around. She closed her eyes waiting for his next move. She could feel each inch of David's blade plunge into her body right below her shoulder. It wasn't even painful at first. Smart man, she thought, neatly avoiding all her organs and critical blood vessels and nerves. And then the pain came thundering to the fore of her mind. Standing was taking far too much effort. She wasn't even really aware of hitting the ground, until the pain of her jostling body roared through her again. It was too much, her mind shut itself off.

* * *

><p>Theo growled in agony as he tore through her blouse and ran his hands over her skin searching for the wound. He saw a pinkish white scar against her otherwise flawless skin and then blood draining slowly from a neatly sliced hole between her breast and her shoulder. He concentrated hard, as hard as he could, intent to pull off the complicated spell Professor Snape had used it to save Malfoy back in sixth year. Slowly the blood began to draw back to the wound in Padma's chest and after a long breathless minute the wound began to knit together. The wound had been significant, but David had chosen to stab her in a location that would do the least possible damage. It was the only reason Theo's spell had worked. Her breathing evened out, but she still lay there unconscious. Theo gasped heavily and supported himself on his hands to keep from falling over, so drained did he feel from the loss of the Elder wand and the spell used to heal Padma.<p>

His eyes trained back to the scar which stood out against the smooth caramel skin of Padma's chest. He pushed aside her clothes so he could see the scar in its entirety. The light-pink skin served as ink to spell out 'Blood Traitor' in neat cursive letters. He barely registered his disgust before collapsing onto the ground next to the woman he had just struggled to save.

* * *

><p><em>Neville twitched violently before rolling to his side just in time to avoid choking on his own vomit. Padma could see Parvati's temper flaring. The entire class had been instructed to stand absolutely still while Longbottom suffered through his punishment. Padma prayed to the gods that Parvati wouldn't break her silence, but one glance at her face and Padma could see there was no hope of that.<em>

_ "Stop, just stop," Parvati commanded. The she-Carrow looked positively thrilled by this turn of events. _

_"And why ever should I?" the venomous woman asked sweetly. "Are you suggesting there's a reason Longbottom doesn't deserve his punishment? Perhaps someone else deserves to be punished in his place?"_

_ "Yes, punish me instead," Parvati offered trembling._

_ Alecto stepped around in a small circle, pondering the offer, but then shook her head. "No, no heroics. I won't offer any more martyrs to you ridiculous children. Let it be known that our Lord and his followers are fair. We only punish those who deserve it," Alecto finished looking rather pleased with her restraint._

_ "No wait, but I do deserve his punishment. He snuck out past curfew for me, I asked him to."_

_ "And why would he do a thing like that for you?" Alecto mused. "Unless, are you two romantically involved?" Half the class started snickering softly. "Were you two going to meet for some sort of tryst? A bit of a snog under the stars?" Several of the Slytherins were guffawing with laughter._

_ "Yes," Parvati lied while a few murmurs started through the crowd. Padma couldn't help but see the humor in the situation too. Parvati pretending to fancy Neville Longbottom. Oh how the mighty had fallen, for a good cause of course. _

_ "Fine then," Professor Carrow said. "Class dismissed, and Finnigan, get Longbottom out of here and over to the infirmary would you. The Headmaster will never stop whinging if he bleeds out in the classroom." _

_ Padma and Parvati moved to help Seamus, but were stopped by the she-devil. "You two will stay here."_

_ Carrow went and sat patiently behind her desk until the last of the students quickly rushed out. "You must consider yourself quite the little temptress," she spoke at last to Parvati, "leading Longbottom to break curfew even knowing how severe the punishment would be. You are very pretty. You and your sister are perhaps the prettiest girls in this school. And most boys are willing to be damn fooiish where pretty girls are concerned."_

_ The girls listened on silently, apprehension rising with each slowly spoken word. "I think we need to make sure that this sort of thing is never repeated. Don't you agree, Miss Patil?"_

_ Carrow stared at her hard until Parvati managed to croak out, "Yes Professor, I accept your punishment."_

_ "Good. Now what would you call someone like yourself, someone who leads nice pureblood boys astray?"_

_ Parvati uttered confused. "I don't know."_

_ "I'll tell you what we call conniving little wenches who ruin our sons. Blood traitor whores," Carrow ended her little speech by brandishing her wand. She cast a quickly encanted spell which had Parvati squealing in pain and tearing at her shirt. She ripped it open to reveal the words 'Blood Traitor' spelled out in bright red blood that began dripping down her chest in several glistening lines. _

_ "Now your turn," Carrow pointed her wand at Padma. _

_ "Wait, why her, she's innocent," Parvati begged. Padma smiled to herself. She had corrupted one of the true pureblood Slytherin sons, even if he couldn't remember it. This curse was going to be a badge of honor. _

_ "She looks just like you, and we don't want a repeat of this unpleasantness," the she-Carrow stated plainly. Padma chest stung violently once the curse was cast. She tore at her shirt in a fair imitation of her sister..._

* * *

><p>Padma thrashed awake clutching her chest. Good god, it hurt. Where was she? She looked down. She was laying in a bed, in a hospital gown. She recognized the room as one of several in St. Mungo's. She glanced around. Parvati was asleep in a chaise near her bed, covered in Neville's coat. She wondered what had happened. She could hear Neville's voice in the hall outside. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and crept stiffly towards the door. She peaked through a small diamond shaped window in the spartan white door to her room.<p>

Neville was standing near the end of the corridor which was dimly lit with floating candles. He was talking with Theo. Thank god he's alive and healthy, Padma thought, and since he was walking free he must have either lost or destroyed the wand. Padma hoped it was the latter. Neville held out his hand which Theo studied for a moment, as if wondering what to do with it, before shaking it. "Thank you again," Neville said. "For healing Padma."

"It was nothing really, don't worry about it," Theo said, noticeably uncomfortable with conversing sociably with Neville Longbottom.

"Good luck then, with everything," Neville said with a final wave before heading down the hall. Theo re-entered his own room and shut the door.

Curious, Padma made her way down the hall and knocked at Theo's door. When he opened it Padma could see his eyes were darkened and he looked very worn. He said, "I was just about to leave."

"Well, surely you could wait a minute and tell me what happened," Padma said blocking his exit. "Please, the last thing I remember is getting stabbed," she continued while rubbing the sore spot on her chest subconsciously.

"That Muggle David, managed to destroy the wand and -"

"Reaaly! That's great news!" Padma exclaimed. "But you were injured?"

"I'm fine, just a little worn out. But since you're here I might as well tell you in person-I'm leaving England. I'm going to go to Germany maybe."

"Oh, what," Padma said, a bit startled. "So you'll be leaving the firm then. When are you going?"

"As soon as I go home and pack a bag."

"What?" Padma's voice rose. "Why the crazy rush?"

"Here, take a look at this morning's paper," Theo said handing her the Daily Prophet. Harry's face graced the cover and a giant headline read, 'ELDER WAND REAL, HARRY POTTER ITS LAST MASTER BEFORE ITS DESTRUCTION'.

"Good grief, what has it been, eight hours?" Padma scoffed.

Theo pointed to a paragraph near the end of the page long article. "Read this."

..._Rumors are now circulating as to how exactly the Elder Wand was destroyed since Mr. Potter will not answer any questions on the subject. Late last night Padma Patil and Theodore Nott Jr. were admitted to St. Mungo's with injuries consistent with a possible duel. Some believe that the two, who were previously romantically linked by this paper, were attempting to steal the wand from Mr. Potter in order to pursue their own dark magic ambitions, possibly even to resurrect you-know-who. So far none of these reports have been confirmed, but if true, Ms. Patil and Mr. Nott may very well be harbingers of a new rising of dark witches and wizards. No one yet knows what their nefarious plans for the Elder Wand were..._

"Wow, they'll just print anything, even with no evidence to back it up," Padma exclaimed. "No one's going to believe this Theo!"

"Of course people will believe it, they love a bloody scandal!"

"Well, Harry will set the record straight."

"Even if he does, damage has already been done. I have to leave, or they'll hound me, and ruin your reputation, not to mention Mrs. Malfoy's trial."

Padma couldn't argue with that. Theo made another move towards the door but Padma blocked him again. "Wait, just give me a few minutes to digest all this, please." Theo retreated back into the room and turned his gaze towards the window.

"You healed my stab wound?" Padma asked while pulling down the collar of her gown to indicate the light pink scar that had formed there. Theo nodded still looking at the window.

"But how? It was so deep, it would have taken a very powerful spell...and is that why you're here? Why you look like death? It drained you a lot to heal me?"

Theo turned towards her to answer and his eyes were immediately drawn to the scars on her chest which were still showing. "Yes, that and the shock of losing the Elder Wand. I only had it for a few minutes but it seemed to bind to me very strongly. I feel the loss of it still." He moved closer, studying her skin.

"Theo, you wouldn't have tried to run with it, would you?" Padma asked delicately, becoming flustered by his close inspection. The last time he had seen these parts of her, her skin had been flawless, now it was littered with unsightly marks.

"Once I was holding it, I felt more powerful, more alive than I've ever felt before. I didn't want to give that feeling up. If that Muggle hadn't stabbed you, I might not have been able to resist the wand for much longer. I've told you before, I'm not a good person, you shouldn't trust me," Theo tugged Padma's collar off her shoulder so he could see the complete 'Blood Traitor' scar. "How did you get that?" he asked.

"You can guess," Padma answered. "You've said all these things to me before you know, years ago. And I still think of you the same way that I did then. I think you're brilliant. That you're one of the most caring people I've ever met, and you don't realize it. You know you have a dark side, and that self-awareness should be your great strength not your weakness," Padma eyes glowed fiercely. "You should leave, leave this place where being a Nott is such a burden. Go live a better life somewhere else, where your demons won't haunt you." She got up on her toes to give him a crushing embrace. She realized she wasn't just saying goodbye to him, but also finally saying goodbye to the tortured boy who had broken her heart years ago. Tears fell from her eyes, but she felt relief, not sadness, as if she had been carrying a burden with her all these years and she could finally let go of it.

Theo pulled her in even closer, smelling the dried rain on hair and ran his hand along the soft skin of her bare shoulder. "Do you forgive me?" he asked.

She turned her face to him and kissed him hard. "Of course I do," she said before kissing him again, and then backing out of his arms. "Now go, once that sun rises I know there'll be reporters waiting for you downstairs. Get out of here." Right before he exitted, Padma added, "And Theo, make all the right choices this time."


	14. Chapter 14

"Order! There will be order during these proceedings or I will clear the gallery!", the wizened old head of the Wizengamot warned for the umpteenth time.

The court was filled to capacity on the third and last day of testimony, and the crowd had grown unruly as events from the war were rehashed and sensational new details were unearthed. Padma didn't enjoy being at the center of this maelstrom of attention, but she knew she had a job to do and her client's life depended on her. Finally the murmurs in the crowd died down and Padma repeated her question to Harry. "Considering everything you saw then Mr. Potter, is it your opinion that Headmaster Dumbledore planned his own death to try and extinguish the Elder Wand?"

"Yes."

"And if Professor Snape hadn't made the Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa Malfoy, would he have killed Headmaster Dumbledore anyway?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Padma finished.

"This court is adjourned for a short recess," a loud voice rang out.

"And that is the last of the testimony we'll be hearing this morning in the trial of Narcissa Malfoy," the soothing voice of the Wizarding Wireless journalist said. "We'll return in a few minutes with the closing arguments from counsel for both sides."

A popular new song started playing and Parvati took this opportunity to step away from her radio and add the finishing touches to the neckline of the cocktail dress she was making. She designed and created clothes on one side of her boutique, _Morgana's Closet_, and the clothes were displayed and sold on the other. Each piece was unique, and the clothing flew off the shelves despite their cost. Young female Hogwarts' students would flood her boutique during their Hogsmeade visits, despite how incomprehensible it was that the loveably nerdy Assistant Professor Longbottom was engaged to it's stylish owner.

One young woman was browsing through the racks when the aforementioned Professor walked in. Parvati smiled before enveloping him in a crushing hug, and kissing him on the cheek where a faded scar ran from his ear to his chin. "How was school today?" she asked.

"Tiring," he sighed. "I administered the practical for the Herbology OWLS. Two students almost petrified themselves with their Mandrakes."

Parvati started laughing, "Oh Merlin, those kids are little menaces. No wonder Snape was always in high dudgeon." She kissed him softly. "I'm so proud of you, you know, _Professor_ Longbottom and all that."

"Well, I'm still only an _Assistant_ Professor."

"Oh please, you'll be promoted before you know it," she beamed at him. "You made it just in time for the end of the trial. It's weird listening to it, listening to what was going on on the other side, I actually feel sort of bad for the Malfoys."

"Makes you think," Neville started, "That it was all so foolish, like we should have been able to avoid it somehow."

"I bet every war feels that way in retrospect," Parvati mused before radio announcer started up again.

"All right listeners, we're back for the closing arguments in the trial of Narcissa Malfoy, accused of murdering Albus Dumbledore. We'll hear first from the Ministry lawyer."

"Mr. Diggory, you may proceed," the head of the Wizengamot instructed.

"Thank you, your honor. The critical facts are not in dispute here. That woman sitting there, Narcissa Malfoy, willingly bound Severus Snape to execute Albus Dumbledore using the Unbreakable Vow. Severus Snape then killed his beloved mentor, however unwillingly. Even the other side concedes that these things are true.

"However, we've heard that there was another possible reason Severus Snape might have killed Albus Dumbledore. That the murder was arranged in an attempt to destroy the mythical Elder Wand. And as much as we all respect and are grateful to Mr. Potter, we have nothing but his opinion that this is what happened. We have no direct evidence, not even the wand in question, to support his assertion that Dumbledore had the wand and made such a deal with Severus Snape. And even if we do believe Mr. Potter, in the end, this plan didn't even work, did it? The Elder Wand still survived. And, more astonishing still, Severus Snape was supposedly never even aware of this plot. We are meant to believe that Albus' request was enough to compel Severus to cast that killing curse! Isn't it more likely that it was instead the heartless Vow he was forced to take by this witch sitting right here that made him kill Professor Dumbledore in the end," he said harshly and paused before continuing.

"My fellow wizards and witches, there's one very important thing to remember in this case. As evil as Voldemort was, he would never have been able to commit all his atrocities without the help of others. Did he attempt to coerce his followers? Of course, as he attempted to coerce us all. And those of us who resisted paid a heavy price. I lost my only son, Albus Dumbledore lost his life, and many others suffered unimaginably. None of which would have happened if it wasn't for the help Voldemort received from the Death Eaters. At best these people were guilty of ruinous cowardice, at worst they are traitors to society, violent criminals who abused power without any compassion for their fellow beings.

"As you consider the guilt of this woman, think to yourself of the life she extinguished, of Albus Dumbledore. One of the greatest wizards who ever lived. If he hadn't been killed, how many lives might he have saved? And think of Severus Snape, a true hero that was forced to kill his mentor, and live with that knowledge. He was another victim of this unfeeling woman.

"I am confident that you, the esteemed Wizengamot, will find this woman guilty of this heinous crime and hold her responsible for her actions, and let all wizarding society know that crimes committed during Voldemort's reign of terror will not go unpunished, that the victims of Death Eaters are not forgotten and will continue to receive justice for all they suffered."

Cheers followed his speech and were loud even through the Wizarding Wireless. Parvati caught Neville's gaze and arched an eyebrow. Mr. Diggory was emotional and compelling, and if Padma weren't the lawyer for the other side, she'd probably be cheering along with the crowd.

"Well, the onlookers here certainly seems to have reached their verdict," the radio announcer said. "We will now hear from Miss Patil who will argue for Mrs. Malfoy."

After a few moments a hush spread through the crowd, and Padma's voice started out strong and serious.

"Mr. Diggory is quite right, there are many disturbing facts about these events that are not in dispute. Voldemort issued an order for Dumbledore's execution, and expected a sixteen year old boy, Draco Malfoy, to carry out this order, or suffer the punishment. Narcissa Malfoy, the mother of this boy, became desperate, so desperate she approached Severus Snape for help. Her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, coerced them into making an Unbreakable Vow, to ensure that Draco's task would be completed. And Severus Snape does in the end ensure it.

"However, Mr. Diggory is wrong about why Severus Snape entered this Unbreakable Vow. He took it swiftly and willingly because he had already pledged to kill Albus Dumbledore when the time came. It is absolutely true that Dumbledore plotted his own death to ensure the destruction of the Elder Wand. He was already dying from the curse spreading through his body. And he knew, that if he were to be bested, the wand could pass on to the victor. He could not risk living to the point where he was so weak, a Death Eater or worse Voldemort himself might be able to claim the wand. Therefore he plotted his own death, with the desperate hope that by dying without ever being defeated the wand would die with him. We have the testimony of none other than Harry Potter himself to prove that this was the true series of events.

"Did Mrs. Malfoy bind Professor Snape with an Unbreakable Vow? Yes, we concede that she did. But was it her idea to murder Professor Dumbledore? No, Voldemort had already issued that order, she was simply trying to save her son from becoming a killer or dying at Voldemort's hands. Was it a good or honorable choice? No. But how many of us would make the same choice to save the life of our child? Xenophilius Lovegood, one of Harry Potter's staunchest defenders, was willing to betray him when his own daughter's life was at risk. And more importantly, did Mrs. Malfoy's choice lead to Professor Dumbledore's death? Absolutely not."

Some loud jeers could be heard over the wireless, but Padma soldiered on in her speech. Parvati wondered to herself where her sister found the courage.

"And let us not forget that it was Mrs. Malfoy who saved Harry Potter's life in the end by lying to Voldemort. This woman risked everything, showed great courage, made a choice that may very well have saved us all." The jeers died down a little and Padma waited for quiet to make her last point.

"Mr. Diggory is right on one other point. If compassion had ruled over the hearts of us all instead of fear or hate, this war would not, could not have lasted as long as it did-could not have caused such suffering in the lives of so many. And here again, four years later, I am asking you all to make a choice. Will we let revenge and hate persist, spreading fear and distrust of eachother, and keeping us from healing? Or can we recognize that all of us, even our enemies have lived through decades of damaging violence, and find the compassion in our hearts to treat each other as equals and friends once again. As long as it us versus them, we cannot heal, we cannot unite, we cannot move on.

"When you judge Mrs. Malfoy, I ask you not to think of her as one of them, one of the enemy, but as a mother who made a terrible choice, and who in the end, to her great relief, did not cause the death she is accused of. I leave it to you, the esteemed Wizengamot to make the right decision based on the evidence presented."

Padma's final words had subdued the most of the crowd's fervour, but some muttering still made it's way across the airwaves. Parvati sighed, a lump rising in her throat, and Neville moved an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly against him.

Padma's voice briefly continued, "My client, Mrs. Malfoy would like to say some words at this time."

There were shocked whispers for about a minute, then Narcissa started speaking, her voice clear and articulate, sounding like the aristocrat that she was.

"I am not proud of many of the things I have done. Looking back, I wish I could have been stronger than I was. I respected Professor Dumbledore, and cannot express how desperately I wanted him to live, because I knew that as long as he lived, our world, Hogwarts, and my boy were better protected against the Dark Lord's madness."

"I am so sorry that Professor Dumbledore died. I am so sorry that our good friend Severus Snape was the one who had to kill him. I did not want any of this to happen," Narcissa's voice broke and she needed a few seconds to collect herself before continuing.

"I want to apologize to my son, whom I allowed to be led astray and who continues to live with the burden of all his parents' mistakes. I am truly sorry for all the suffering I have caused anyone. I plead with you all to forgive me. And like Miss Patil, I hope that someday soon, Wizarding society will become whole once again, and children and grandchildren of people like me, Death Eaters, will not have to live with our mistakes hanging over their heads. That is all I have to say."

There was silence for a few moments before the head of Wizengamot spoke again, "We will adjourn for a few minutes and return with our decision."

"Well folks, it seems like the Wizengamot is almost ready to rule," the Wizarding Wireless journalist said. "We'll be back as soon as they're ready."

Parvati turned to Neville, "What do you think they're going to say?"

"I have no idea. But I kind of just want it to be over. It was complicated, I hope they can just let it go," Neville said.

"You really are too sweet. I know what you mean, but after everything that happened, everything and everyone those Death Eaters took from us...I don't know if I'm ready to forgive and forget yet, I'm still angry, you know?"

Neville squeezed her into his side. "I feel like that too sometimes, but if you really think about it, being angry hurts us too, more than them probably. Just think of Padma and Theodore."

"What are you trying to say?" Parvati asked tensing, suspicious of what he might be thinking.

Neville sighed, "Well, it's obvious isn't it. He's in love with her. And she, well..."

"And she what?" Parvati asked without looking at him, fiddling with the loose strips of cloth on the table in front of her.

"Parvati, I think you know already. She would be much happier if she could have him in her life. She's in love with him too, don't you think?"

"I don't...I don't like...Don't you think she would be happier with someone else, anyone else who's normal?" Parvati countered. "He so sullen and horrible. He went to Azkaban for Gods' sake. I mean life with Theodore Nott would be unbearable, everyone would think she was a sodding Death Eater too."

"Well, that's the problem isn't it. Everyone else judging them. They fell in love Parvati, right around when we did. And after the war and despite being separated for years, those feelings are obviously still there."

"That doesn't mean those feelings are good for her or that they belong together, for Merlin's sake they don't have anything in common," Parvati said while hemming a skirt somewhat furiously.

"Um, sweetheart, if you remember correctly, most people thought that we had nothing in common. I was the shy, nerdy, incompetent, goofy-looking guy and you were pretty, fun, girly-girl. I swear everyone was dumbstruck when they found out."

"You were not incompetent! And you are bloody handsome, and if anyone thinks differently its their loss anyway. In any case it's not the same thing at all. We fought on the same side! His father killed people on our side! He tortured you and me and practically all of our friends at one point or another!"

"Honey, I'm willing to forgive him if he is truly sorry. All I'm saying is we are her closest family now. She should at least feel like we do not judge her, don't you think."

"Fine Neville, I promise I won't rage against him in front of her, but I refuse to encourage it, and in any case he's going away hasn't he? If she got over him she'd be much happier in the long run, I just know it."

"You're probably right Mrs. Longbottom, but what can I say? I've been so lucky in love I becoming a hopeless romantic."

Parvati was happily distracted, "I'm not Mrs. Longbottom yet."

"But you will be in a mere two months, I might as well begin calling you that. It makes me happy to call you that," Neville finished with a kiss on her forehead, as he thought of how nice it would be to have more than just him and his grandmother in his family. Parvati would be the first new Longbottom in a long time, his parents would have been thrilled, if they could understand that he was their son and that he was getting married.

The song on the radio abruptly cut out as the radio announcer returned. "All right folks, the Wizengamot is back and seated, and it looks like the head of the Wizengamot himself will be reading the verdict."

The gravelly voice of the head of the Wizengamot began speaking. "This case has not been a straightforward one. In order to determine whether or not Narcissa Malfoy is responsible for the murder of Albus Dumbledore, we had to decide whether or not Harry Potter was in fact telling the truth and whether he was certain that the late Professor Dumbledore and the late Professor Snape had planned his death before Narcissa Malfoy bound Professor Snape with the Unbreakable Vow. We have decided that Harry Potter's testimony and character to be reliable in this matter. And therefore Narcissa Malfoy did not directly cause the murder of Albus Dumbledore."

"However, Narcissa Malfoy made the Unbreakable Vow with reasonable expectation that it would lead to the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Binding someone with such a vow, is a crime against both the murder victim and the person forced to commit the murder. It is a callous and despicable act. The Wizengamot recognizes that there were external pressures on the accused witch, but not enough to excuse her commission of the Vow. Therefore the Wizengamot finds Narcissa Malfoy guilty of the crime of seeking to commission a murder and sentence her to three additional years in Azkaban. That is the entirety of our ruling in this matter."

A sound of a gavel falling rang out and suddenly the announcer was back on, "Well there you have it folks, three more years, that's what Mrs. Malfoy received, found not guilty of murder, but guily of attempting to commission a murder. So listeners what do you think? Too little? Too much? Should Harry Potter's testimony have been enough to save her from a lifetime in Azkaban? And what about Mrs. Malfoy's lovely war heroine attorney who according to the Daily Prophet has been dabbling in the Dark Arts, or Dark Wizards more like. We'll be airing your reactions for the next hour of our evening show."


	15. Chapter 15

Padma had thought of it as just another case. And now here she was, two months later, writing an editorial for the Daily Prophet. Her closing during the trial and Harry Potter's vigorous defense of attacks on her character had helped start an overdue discussion in the wizarding world. Witches and wizards from all sides were now asking each other and themselves exactly how they were going to move forward from the war. Padma was happy about it, she was, but she was just so tired, from the trial, from Theo's sudden return and departure from her life, and from all the Elder wand business. One more article, and then she would lose herself in a week's worth of Parvati's wedding festivities.

Padma looked up when she heard a soft knock on her office door. Clearly someone was nervous about coming in. She chided herself for the momentary hope she felt that it might be Theo. Of course it wasn't him. "Please, come in," Padma called from behind her desk.

It was Amy Stevens, the younger Ravenclaw whom Padma had rescued once years ago. "Amy! What are you doing here? Don't tell me you've gotten yourself into trouble."

"No nothing like that," Amy smiled back nervously. "I was just walking past, and I thought I would duck in and see if you were free to talk."

"Yes of course," Padma pushed her papers off to the side, happy for the distraction. "How are you doing? You just graduated right, how does it feel to be done with Hogwarts?"

"I'm doing well, but it feels sort of sad to be done with school. I don't know, just sort of a shock, I'm sure I'll get used to it."

"I won't lie to you, there's no place like Hogwarts, and things will never be the same. But I'm sure you'll find something exciting to do here on the outside world." Padma noticed that Amy was still fidgeting nervously. "All right, what is it Amy?"

"I...well, I have a confession sort of."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," Padma reassured her, but had no idea what this girl could possibly have to say.

"Well, I'm sort of responsible for Rita Skeeter writing that stuff about you and Theodore Nott a few months back," Amy said her curly black hair falling forward to hide her face.

"Amy, how could you possibly be responsible for that?" Padma asked incredulous and anxious.

Amy began telling her story.

_Amy flicked her wand back and forth, distributing the papers from the stack floating in front of her onto walls of the Dark Arts classroom. They were wanted posters for all the most treachorous Death Eaters and a list of their crimes. She had drawn them up herself. She teared up as they were spread around the room. 'WANTED: SEVERUS SNAPE FOR THE MURDER OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE', 'WANTED: WALDEN MACNAIR FOR THE MURDER OF BRODERICK BODE', 'WANTED: BELLATRIX LESTRANGE FOR THE MURDER OF SIRIUS BLACK...' and the list went on and on. _

_She finished quickly, and swallowing down rage-fueled adrenaline exited silently and flitted from alcove to alcove, trying to make it to Ravenclaw tower unseen. She was hiding in one such alcove when who but Theodore Nott Jr. should pass in front of her. The scum, she thought, horrific just like his father. She could just hex him, she was so infuriated. Wait, she _could_ hex him. It was totally worth the risk. Once he turned the corner she darted out from her hiding spot and moved quickly to tail him. Just one stunning spell, followed by a hex to turn him all boily. No that was too juvenile, she was dealing with murderers, it was time to think bigger. A stunning spell, and she would steal his wand! Perfect and then burn it in an elaborate victory ritual of her own devising! She had to keep her spirits up after all._

_He turned sharply into a classroom. Amy crept closer, ready to hex him if he should suddenly exit. She looked through the crack in the door and was stunned. He was in there locking lips with some girl. Yuck, thirteen year old Amy thought, that's just gross. Who would kiss that Death Eater scum. Probably some Slytherin tramp. They finally broke apart after what seemed like entirely too long a period of time for two people to be kissing, and the tramp was breathing heavily. Eww, gross. Who would swoon for that weirdo? _

_And then she saw it was Padma, her personal hero ever since she had taken Amy's punishment for her, the girl who was always fighting for the light. Padma had been kissing that Death Eater spawn! Amy had no idea what to think she was so shocked. Oh god, was Padma spying for the other side? No it was impossible, she would never. Even more unlikely, was Theo spying for them? Maybe no one was spying, maybe they just liked to meet up with each other and play kissy-face. Amy couldn't hear, with the silencing charm Theo had cast, but watched as Padma slipped out of her robes and started unbuttoning her shirt. She wanted to turn away, but had to know what the hell was going on. If Padma was betraying them, it was a total catastrophe. Padma blushed as she pulled her shirt apart and over her shoulder. Theo inspected the area which was severely bruised, and then applied some sort of salve to it before kissing her lightly on the shoulder. Padma blushed and so did Amy. She heard the sound of distant footsteps and backed away from the door, while thinking furiously. She needed to find out what was going on. If Padma was betraying the rest of the DA, she had to tell them about it. So she hatched a plan. _

_It was easy enough for a Ravenclaw to set a trap. She would give Padma some information, information she would be sure to pass on a Death Eater if she were betraying them. One evening, in the Ravenclaw common room, she started crying. Summoning the tears was easy, as all her fears and anxieties were real enough. Padma came over and placed her hand gently on Amy's arm. "What is it Amy? Do you want to talk about it?" she asked._

_"It's just my mum. Being a muggleborn and all, she's had to go into hiding. I'm just so afraid for her," Amy's voice broke. "I haven't heard from her in months, which my dad tells me is good, since they would surely arrest her if they had found her."_

_"Amy, I think your father is right. They have been publicizing all the arrests of Muggleborns in the Daily Prophet," Padma added reasonably._

_"Yes, but what if whoever finds her just kills her or hurts her and doesn't bother with the arresting," Amy added desperately. "We both know that there are plenty of Snatchers and Death Eaters who would do that."_

_Padma nodded, not wanting to insult the younger girl's intelligence by claiming that such things didn't happen. "Let's hope for the best then, and do whatever we can to help Harry put an end to this madness." Padma squeezed her hand soothingly. If she was betraying them, she had to be truly treacherous to exude such sweetness._

_"Well, my mom was been hiding in a little cottage in Dunvegan, right on the sea. But I've heard of arrests being made up there. Maybe I send her an owl and tell her to move?" Amy whispered._

_"Amy, you should never tell anyone such things, not anyone. You never know who may be listening," Padma chided her. "And sending her an owl would likely just put her in greater danger. But you and your father will know what's best to do."_

_Padma paused for several seconds staring off to the side. "I was worried about my parents too. But they were both purebloods and never allied with either side. They were just living their lives quietly and said they'd be fine. And then, a few months ago, two Death Eaters came into our home through the Floo. And just started shooting spells everywhere, destroying the place. One of the spells hit my father. He lost his right arm and his right eye, with spell damage all across his face." Padma paused again, and her tone turned firm as she looked back at Amy. "But he is alive and I'm so thankful. My mom took him to India so he can rest and recover. She tried to take us with her, but we couldn't leave you see. We have too many people to worry about right here," Padma said with a sad smile._

_"But why did they attack your parents?" Amy asked._

_"Wrong address. They were meant to go after another family that lived close by. At least they heard the ruckus and were able to flee in time."_

_"I'm so sorry Padma," Amy said, feeling badly for thinking Padma could be a traitor._

_"Don't be, Amy, like I said at least he's alive. I still have all my family, and that's more than a lot of people have right now." Padma said before walking away._

_Amy waited for several weeks, and no one so much as knocked on the door of her family's lonely empty cottage. Not a traitor then. She desperately wanted to ask Padma about what she had seen, but decided to let the girl have her secret. This must be what grown-ups do, she thought, keep each other's secrets, really keep them, not because they had promised to, but because your friends' deserved to have them kept._

_Amy never said a thing about it again. Half-way through the school year, she saw a dramatic change in Padma, saw her harden into a warrior. And saw Theo torture Padma's friends. She surmised that they were no longer together. Then the battle of Hogwarts happened. Amy hadn't been allowed to fight, she was too young. Before she exited the castle though, she saw Theodore Nott Jr., putting on his mask as he stepped out of a closet. She had to stop him, "I'm only doing this for her," Amy called out before stunning him, her anger at Death Eaters would have preferred a more permanent solution. She hauled his limp body back into the closet and locked it with every charm she knew._

_They lost many older students. She would always be grateful to them for defending the rest, willing to lay down their lives because that was what had been asked of them. She read in the paper that Theodore Nott Jr. had gone to Azkaban. And then years later, she saw Padma and Theo together in the Great Hall. Padma was looking around happily and Theo was gazing down at her fondly, well fondly for a former Death Eater that went to prison anyway, which was to say he was looking down at her without scowling. Aww, Amy had thought to herself, they've found each other again after all this time. It was so sweet. _

_After Padma had left their table, she went and sat next to Theo at the Slytherin table, nudging him as she sat down. A ridiculously large grin was plastered on Amy's face. One of her friends asked her what was wrong. "Nothing, it's just, they look so sweet together. After everything that happened, there they are back together, all these years later. It's like one of those really romantic love stories you read about in books. You know?" Amy said nodding towards the older couple._

"I didn't think anything of it at the time, but apparently this was gossip worthy and gossip travels fast," Amy said to Padma from across her desk.

"Amy, don't even worry about it, I mean it," Padma said rising. "It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry you saw us all these years ago, and amazed you kept my secret as long as you did. I'm thankful, really, more thankful than you know. And Theo would be too I think if he knew you kept him from fighting that day."

"Really, you're not mad," Amy asked.

"Not even a little," Padma said, though it was definitely uncomfortable to hear about her relationship. But she didn't want to give herself too long to dwell on it. "Enough reminiscing Amy. I have to go a party. Want to come?" Padma asked, standing.

"What party?" Amy asked rising with Padma.

"Parvati's hen night. All us old fogies will be there, it'll be fun," Padma added. "And we're going out Muggle style, which should be interesting."

"Muggle style? What does that mean exactly?" Amy asked bewildered.

"I'm not quite sure, but Lavender is planning it. She's dating a Muggle you see, so she knows all about the 'cool clubs' or something," Padma added grabbing Amy's arm. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"You and your friends are so...," the tall, dark, handsome man started and looked down to see Padma giving him a suspicious stare, "different."<p>

"Different how?" Padma asked the gorgeous muggle over the loud pulsing music, which had an intoxicating effect, she thought, even on those who weren't imbibing.

"Just different, you all dance different and dress different, more conservative, like you don't care about what's fashionable at the moment or something." Padma gave him a sour look at that. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's refreshing, intriguing even," he said leaning down to speak into her ear.

Padma looked around at her friends, twenty odd witches dancing together and with an assortment of muggles. Most were wearing brightly colored outfits in cuts that revealed much less skin the other women there, but more than she would usually consider appropriate. None of them except Lavender seemed to recognize any of the songs or the common method of dancing, which the witches were imitating with varying degrees of success. Padma really wondered about Hermione, as a Muggleborn, she should be somewhat familiar, but seemed to having the most trouble of all. Amy seemed to have caught on rather quickly and had been happily dancing away with an adorable blond young man.

"Well, we all went to the same boarding school, it was rather remote and strict, so we didn't get out much," she explained truthfully.

"Ahh," he mouthed but she couldn't really hear the word. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer as they continued to dance. It felt fantastic to be held by, what was his name? Alastair? Alex? She wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. Whatever his name was, he was tall, solid, and warm, and really good for steadying herself. He seemed a nice type too, compared to many of the men there at any rate. He had talked and danced with her for hours now, without saying or doing anything inappropriate. And he was funny and interesting, at least the words she could hear.

Padma stood on her tiptoes to speak into his ear. "Would you like to go outside, for a bit of air and conversation?" He nodded and kept a firm grip on her hand as he made a path for them through the crowded club. Parvati grinned as she watched them walk off, Padma loosening up was definitely a good thing. And any boy that distracted her from Theo was a freaking godsend.

Once outside, despite the sudden lack of music to provide an excuse for holding each other close, Al- sat on a stone-capped wall and smiled flirtatiously as he situated his hands back on Padma's waist to draw her closer to him so she was standing between his legs. "So tell me more about this school, what is it you studied there?"

"Umm...nothing particular just general university preparation you know," Padma tried to sound casual.

"So you're a uni student then?" he asked.

"Well, I'm all done now, working on lawyery stuff now. What about you, what do you do?" Padma diverted.

"I'm a—it's a very not sexy job—a primary school teacher actually," he said with an embarrassed smile. He was a rather bulky person for such a job.

"You know that makes you pretty adorable, don't you," Padma teased.

"Well, yes, I have heard that before," he said leaning closer. He was warm and sweet and wonderful. Padma was happy to be close to him. And then he brought his hand up her arm stroking her bare shoulder and her neck, and Padma began to feel suddenly uneasy. Her breath drew in sharply and he moved closer to kiss her and she wrenched back almost involuntarily. She was ruining it, but she almost couldn't breath she felt so uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he started, "Look no worries, we can just chat. I really like you, I don't want to spook you or anything."

"No, I'm sorry," Padma said quickly still backing away, oh god, he was gorgeous and nice, what was wrong with her.

"Don't go," he said rising. "Really, I take it back. I'd like get to know you better, on a date. How about dinner tomorrow?"

Padma didn't know what to say, just that she suddenly didn't feel like doing this with him. She was having so much fun, and then things turned overtly romantic, and suddenly it felt wrong. She felt wrong.

"I can't, it's just that I think I'm not ready for anything like that yet, I'm still getting over someone," Padma said as an excuse, a pathetic one at that. It had been more than four bloody years.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had just broken up with someone, here's my number though," he said scribbling on a piece of paper. "Ring me if you'd like." Padma didn't even know how to use a phone. "There are your friends," he pointed over her shoulder at the door, where Parvati waved at her with an encouraging smile. "I'll assume you want to go with them, it was lovely meeting you tonight Padma," he gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek. "I think you're horribly pretty and interesting. Ring me, okay?" She nodded as she shuffled off cursing herself for her inability to shake off her ghosts and just be a normal person.

By the time she reached the rest of the group, she plastered on a fake smile. Lavender tittered as she said, "Well looks like you bagged yourself a gorgeous guy, so you gonna see him again?" Lavender asked.

"Well, he did give me his number," Padma said smiling slyly, but there was no fooling Parvati who could see the pain in her sister's face. As they began walking off, Parvati held onto Padma's arm and squeezed it as they walked. Letting her sister know she knew. Good lord, Parvati thought to herself. She was going to have to do the unthinkable.


	16. Chapter 16

Theo fingered the envelope in his pocket as he approached the large country house leased for the wedding. The sun was shining this morning, and his serious demeanor and pale skin seemed incongruous with the bright atmosphere. The house was happily situated amongst extensive gardens and looked as if it had about fifteen bedrooms, enough space for probably the entire wedding party. Theo could tell his assessment was right from the number of voices he heard coming from the open windows where he'd see an occasional person walk past. It looked as if a tent was being prepared to be pitched off the side of the house. Parvati's note was still tucked into the bulky wedding invitation which Theo withdrew from his pocket to read once again.

**Only come if you are totally serious about her. I mean it. You've been warned. Show up Saturday morning at ten if you plan to come at all.**

**-Parvati Patil**

Theo was certain the Parvati would doom him if he messed about with Padma at all ever again. He had considered her words carefully and tried to reason himself out of coming. He took Parvati's invitation to be an olive branch-an indication that she might be okay with him socializing with Padma, whom he hadn't been able to stop thinking about for the past months. The last kiss she had given him was burned into his memory. But she hadn't written to him nor he to her. He read about the end of the case and received letters from Draco filling him in on the details the papers left out. If he went to the wedding, there was a chance things might rekindle with Padma, since several months had passed and attention from the case had died down. If he didn't go, it might be read as a sign that he was no longer interested and it was time for everyone to move on, and reasonable as he tried to be, he didn't want Padma moving on.

In the end he decided to come and had to arrange a portkey from Germany and get leave from his apprenticeship for several days. Attending Parvati's wedding would be extremely uncomfortable, not just for him but he was sure for Parvati as well. She had made her dislike of him abundantly clear and it must have been a great concession to invite him. He wondered what Padma thought about his coming, but he hadn't heard from her at all.

He stood on the doorstep feeling more nervous than he had felt for a long time. He could hear many voices behind the door as no doubt people rushed about preparing for the wedding to start that evening. He felt sure his presence was about to bring an awkward halt to all the busy fun being had. As he rang the bell the door opened to reveal Parvati herself smirking at him.

"Well, well, you came after all. You remember my warning right?" Parvati tilted her head to the side and asked carefully while leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes of course," Theo said annoyed, didn't she know how hard it was for him to come, there was really no need to taunt him. "It's nice to see you too."

"I'd wait until breakfast is over to decide about that," Parvati muttered under her breath but Theo heard her. "Come on in," Parvati's grin was truly disconcerting as she led Theo towards a large sunlit kitchen.

Neville was the only one in there, still dressed in pajamas, and Parvati left the two alone for a moment. "Hello Neville," Theo greeted him.

Neville was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes as gulped down some water, before turning to smile at him. He looked more relaxed than a groom should look the day before his wedding. "Well, you came then," Neville reached out to shake Theo's hand. "Wow, well done man." Neville said confusingly.

Theo uttered a "Huh?" in response and could hear footsteps approaching the door to the kitchen.

Neville gesticulated quickly as he said, "Don't be afraid. He's a great guy really, a little old-fashioned maybe, but quite reasonable." The door started swinging open. "Well, I won't be sticking around, but good luck!" Neville said giving him a thumbs up.

Parvati walked in just then with two people Theo could only assume were her parents. Her mother looked just as pretty and elegant as her daughters, only older and was smiling at him kindly. Her father however was clearly missing an arm, an eye, and the scars criss-crossing his face gave him a grisly appearance, to which he added a one-eyed scowl and deep frown that accentuated the lines on his face. Theo tried not to flinch.

"Mum, Dad, this is Theodore Nott, who I told you about. Theo, these are my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Patil," Parvati introduced them.

Theo stepped forward to shake her father's hand, which did nothing to lessen his scowl, and then shook her mother's hand.

"Come on Neville, honey, we should go help with the preparations," Parvati said smiling happily at Theo's confusion as she and Neville made a quick exit. Oh, she's pure evil, Theo thought, but didn't have long to contemplate the matter before Mrs. Patil began to speak.

"Come let us sit at the table, would you like some tea or coffee?" she asked him gently, trying to help him feel at ease.

"Coffee please, won't anyone be joining us?" he said.

"No," she responded lightly. "We would like to talk to you on our own if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Theo was really confused now.

She served them all, and thankfully Mr. Patil's frown melted slightly as he drank the first sips of his tea, but his disturbing one-eyed scowl remained fixed.

"So, you're the one who made my Padma so sad for so long," Mr. Patil stated bluntly.

Theo wasn't sure what to say, but Mr. Patil continued glaring at him and seemed happy to let the silence stretch on as he took another sip of tea.

"I'm sorry sir," Theo finally responded.

"She is very dear to me," her father continued. "She is my amazing, perfect little girl, and I can not bear to see her hurt."

"I understand sir," Theo said.

Mrs. Patil spoke after another uncomfortable bout of silence, "Both my daughters were always very light-hearted when they were children. And then they had to deal with a lot when they grew up. They have both had to become much more serious then I would have liked, but Padma, she has become closed off. I think after everything, she feels that she need not burden others with her sadness. I have often wondered what it was that weighed on her heart so much. And now Parvati has told me that it is you. I do not say this to embarrass or hurt you son," Mrs Patil said reaching out and patting his arm. "I just want to know my daughter better. Please tell me about yourself."

"There's isn't too much to say," Theo started. "I'm the only member of my family still alive, my father was allied with you-know-who and killed in the war. I...I was as well and went to Azkaban for two years. That is in the past, for me anyway. Now I am apprenticing with a wand maker in Germany."

"That is a lot to say," Mrs. Patil responded. "I am very sorry for you son, and I am glad you have been able to move on," she added slowly.

Theo was floored, he had not expected a one-on-one with the elder Patils and had certainly not been expecting sympathy from Mrs. Patil whose casual use of the word son was sending his emotional walls crumbling.

"Allied with Tom Riddle, huh?" Mr. Patil asked in a low voice. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Theo was sure Parvati must have already told them something of his history, but it seemed the two older Patils wanted to hear it from him. "I will not make any excuses. It was a bad choice, but I made it. I thought it was the logical way to achieve some of the societal goals that are easy to get a seventeen year old from an old pureblood family excited about. I came to realize the horror of my choice later, but I was not brave enough to escape it. All I can say is I've changed since then, and I wouldn't make the same choices now."

"Hmm," her father uttered, while Theo tried to figure out what exactly what he was mulling over. "I want to be clear that I do not approve of your past. But I hear you have done things to redeem yourself recently." After another sip of tea, Padma's father continued, "Wand maker is a good career," Mr. Patil's scowl lessened ever so slightly. "Are you good at it?"

"Well my master thinks I have a talent for it," Theo answered honestly.

Mr. Patil sighed. "So when will you marry Padma then?"

"Excuse me," Theo barely caught himself from spitting out his coffee. But looking at Mr. Patil, Theo realized the man was perfectly serious. "Sir, we're not even dating at the moment."

"Not even dating!" her father spat out the words. "I come back home and find that my daughter is enduring a public-shaming for being linked with you. Photos of you and her slapped on the front of the newspaper."

Mrs. Patil continued when Mr. Patil seemed at a loss for words. "I think what my husband means to say is, if you want to be with our daughter it must be done respectably. I fear that you both can no longer afford to be dating casually given your past history. You have once already been more than casually involved I think. You can not return to that."

"But," Theo said, so startled by the conversation that he missed the exasperated look on Mr. Patil's face. Then he remembered Parvati's exact words, _only come if you're totally serious about her. _Damn it Parvati! "I don't think we're at a point where I could propose to her..."

"What? Parvati says that you have been involved with each other for some time. What is it that you still need to do with her?" Mr. Patil eyed him suspiciously. Theo was getting scared of what he might be suspecting.

"Theodore, let me ask you something son," Mrs. Patil said. "From what Parvati has told me, you and Padma have a complicated past. But it may be that Padma is still in love with you."

"Do you know that for sure?" Theo interrupted, suddenly both hopeful and anxious. "Has she said something about it to you? Does she know that I'm here having this conversation with you?"

Mrs. Patil looked thoughtful. "No, she has not said those exact words. But she did talk to me about you, for many hours, a few nights ago. And we did not tell her of this meeting, we just wanted to talk with you on our own before we involve her in any way. I will say this, I believe that she may still be in love with you. You haunt her. All we need to know is do you love our daughter?"

"I do," Theo said, before he could fully think through the meaning of his declaration. It was the simple truth, and he couldn't keep himself from saying it to Padma's soothing, gentle mother.

Theo considered the possibility of proposing for a moment, and realized he really wanted to do it, he didn't really have any doubts about how happy she would make him, and he had everything to gain. He didn't want to scare her off, but here were her parents insisting he do it or leave her be. But he wouldn't, couldn't leave her now or ever again. And they were probably right. Him and Padma had too much baggage already, they were in desperate need of a fresh start, without the interference of the outside world. He was resolved to do it. "Mr. Patil, may I have permission to ask your daughter for a single date, and if I think she still loves me, for her hand in marriage?" He suddenly remembered his pureblood manners, looking Mr. Patil in the eye and talking to him one man to another.

Mr. Patil's face finally softened. "You may, son, you may," he said almost sadly.

"I will do it soon, sir, thank you." Mr. Patil rose to shake Theo's hand and pulled him into a firm hug with his one arm. He was a tall man, almost as tall as Theo. "My Padma is a very wise and conscientious girl. If she accepts you, I will have no doubts that you are the right husband for her."

Mrs. Patil also hugged him before he left and he was sure she had tears in her eyes.

* * *

><p>On this, the first day of celebration, the day before the wedding, the house filled with guests who floated through the house and out amongst the gardens. It was a warm, clear night. The women and girls were sequestered in the main hall of the house, singing and dancing, by the sound of it. The men were gathered elsewhere, most sitting back and drinking whiskey. Children were running back and forth between the two groups. Theo had returned, several hours after leaving breakfast, excited and anxious. He hadn't caught sight of Padma yet, but knew that before the night was over he needed to speak with her.<p>

To Theo's amazement, Harry Potter was the first person to come up to him and greet him. "Hello there Theo, I didn't know you were going to be here."

"It was sort of a last minute thing," Theo responded uncomfortably.

"Well, I never did get to say thank you for getting rid of the Elder Wand before you up and left," Harry said in hushed tones. "So thanks mate, I feel much better now that it's gone from my life."

"I'm glad," Theo responded, though he couldn't necessarily echo the sentiment. Casting spells with the wand had been an amazing thrill.

"Come on then, come say hello to the others," Harry said leading him deeper into the house, where many of the their former classmates were sitting and talking together. With the wives and girlfriends away on the other side of the house, they seemed to be drinking and talking more openly then usual. Theo was quiet, though pleasant and seemed to be accepted by the others as a rather benign presence. He was getting anxious to talk to Padma, and after a time left the group to seek her out.

When he reached the door to the main hall, he realized he couldn't very well barge into what was clearly an event just for women, it would be like walking into the women's bathroom. He considered asking one of the other women to retrieve Padma for him, but that was likely to raise questions. Then he saw a little boy of around four with brilliant blue hair running out of the room towards him. Perfect he thought.

"What's your name," Theo asked the boy.

"Theodore, but everyone calls me Teddy," the boy answered gleefully. "What's your name?"

"I'm Theodore too. Well, Teddy, do you know who Miss Padma is?"

"Yes."

"Could you go in there and tell her to come out here for me?" Theo asked in what he thought was a child friendly voice, but really it was just him talking slowly.

"Why?"

"Well, I just want to tell her something important," Theo said.

"But she's naked right now," Teddy said.

"Excuse me?" Theo couldn't fathom what the child meant.

"I'll go get her," Teddy ran off before answering, but Theo could hear his young voice over the music emanating from the hall. "Miss Padma, there's a tall man outside that needs to tell you important things...He said to come naked."

He could hear laughter and the child's voice as it came back towards the door. "His name is Teddy too, just like me." Finally the door pushed outwards and Padma emerged, not naked but barefoot and wrapped in a silk cloth with intricate patterns drawn in a black paste all up her arms and legs, and the back of her shoulder. Her hair was pulled up into a high knot and she walked gingerly, to avoid smearing the paste. She looked gorgeous and more than a little shocked to see him.

"Parvati invited me," Theo explained, smiling despite himself. She was amazing, more perfect that he remembered. He was going to propose to this woman soon, and for some reason he couldn't think of a single intelligent thing to say. "I didn't realize I was interrupting you, I just wanted to say hello."

"Just wait one minute, I'll be right back," she said slipping back into the room.

Little Teddy just stood there staring at him until Padma re-emerged, this time wearing a simple pink dress with the patterns showing up dark red and glittering along her body. She just smiled at him and chuckled nervously.

"You look nice," Theo said.

"Oh yes, the tattoos, they're only temporary, but tradition you know. Since we're magical, we can make them shimmer a little," Padma said twisting her arm to show him. Behind her the room suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"I didn't mean to draw you away, if you need to be in there," Theo said, clearly this initial meeting was not destined to go as smoothly as it had in his mind.

"No, no, I'm fine for a while. I didn't know you were here, Parvati didn't tell me," Padma said.

"Yes, I think she didn't want to in case I couldn't make it," Theo answered.

Padma nodded, "But I'm glad you're here. Ummm...I should introduce you to my parents."

"I met them earlier," Theo didn't want to lie, nor accidentally give away anything about their discussion over breakfast. "They seemed nice."

"Oh," Padma looked surprised. "Well, ummm, I'll be honest, it's a little surreal to see you here."

Theo's heart sank. "I'm sorry, perhaps I shouldn't have come."

"No I'm glad you did, really, I'm just trying to comprehend why exactly." Padma seemed embarrassed by her question.

"I wanted to see you."

"Oh," Padma smiled while toying with her braid. Theo had never seen her so flustered. "I'm just...umm, would you like to take a walk around the gardens?" He had meant be the one to ask her.

"Yes," he said, and followed her down the hall and out into the night.


	17. Chapter 17

Theo and Padma had been awkwardly dancing around having any real conversation for some time now. They agreed that the wedding preparations were lovely, and Narcissa's case had turned out as well as could be expected. He was getting on well in Germany, and she was glad for her respite from work for a few weeks. They continued to stroll, and Theo had gone silent, as if lost in thought.

"Shall we head back then?" Padma asked finally.

"Sure, if you need to be back, but if not, I'm enjoying our time together," Theo said. He looked handsomer than ever, Padma thought. Germany, or being away, certainly agreed with him.

"Well, I can stay out here for a while, but we aren't actually saying anything, so it seems silly to stand out here all night," Padma said, her patience wearing a bit thin.

Theo frowned at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you disliked my company."

Padma frowned back. "I don't 'dislike your company', Theo. I just don't understand why you're here exactly. I know Parvati invited you, which is frankly unexpected to say the least. But I thought we had closed the door on this."

"Closed the door on what?" Theo asked, his expression unreadable.

"On dancing around each other. Being near each other hasn't exactly ever been good for either of us."

"I see, so you want me to be away from you," Theo continued, emotionless, as if they were discussing the weather.

"Well, yes, now that you ask," Padma said a bit forcefully. For some reason, perhaps it was the wedding, she suddenly felt like it was time for her to get her own romantic life in order. Besides which all the stress from the case and seeing all her family and friends together again had left her feeling more emotional than she had felt in a long time, probably since before the war. "I am...I need...Can I be honest?"

"Please."

"I am a messed-up person. Greyback was right you know, about me being a virgin," Padma said, her thoughts had piled up on each other in her mind, and for some reason that one just slipped out.

Theo blanched a little, which seemed impossible given how pale he already was, and stuttered, "Well, I wouldn't have presumed that you would..." but seemed to have no idea how to complete that sentence.

Padma blushed and rolled her eyes. "What I mean is, I haven't had a real relationship since school, where my last relationship was with you, and that wasn't exactly normal, now was it?" She said sarcastically. Her voice was rising slightly with each sentence. "And it's not for lack of trying, Parvati has tried to push me towards every halfway-decent single wizard she knows. And I just can't seem to feel that way, it's like there's something broken inside me."

Theo kept looking at her, and now that the dam was broken, Padma couldn't stop all her pent up thoughts from spilling forth. "And I don't want to be that way anymore. Seeing everyone in there, Parvati and Neville, Harry and Ginny, David and Lavender, Oliver and Alicia, my parents, gods, even Seamus shags someone now and then and tells me all the details. I don't have any of that, not even the casual stuff. I go all frigid around any guy that's not Seamus, who has, by the way, actually told me that I remind him of a man, a lonely skinny man. And today I'm looking around and thinking, that I'm just so jealous of them, all of them. They've all moved on past the war and everything and made lives for themselves. Hell, I'm even jealous of you, at least you wiped your memory and were able to get on with life. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one still stuck in the past."

"Padma, I-," Theo wanted to interject.

"No, please, okay. I know you had a thing with Astoria, at least. And I'm not saying you shouldn't have, it's your own freaking business okay. I just, errrrrr," Padma growled. "I just don't want to be this way any more. I want to be able to have a life. I met this great guy a few nights back, a Muggle, if you'd believe it, well you won't believe it. And he was great, a fantastic person, and you know what'll happen between us? Nothing."

"Because he's a Muggle," Theo said as if saying the sky were blue.

"No, you idiot, because I am a messed up person," Padma was truly angry now. "And you know why I'm this way? It's you, you with all your prejudice and your imperfections, and your grumpiness, it's always been you. I can't do what you did Theo. I can't fall in and out of love. I just can't. I wanted to hate you. You gave me every reason to hate you, and I couldn't. Do you know how I felt when you left me the way that you did? Or how I felt when you were taken to prison? It's like I'm not a whole person anymore, I don't have all my parts."

Theo was standing there stoically, just listening to her rant, and it was making her even angrier. "And then you come waltzing back into and out of my life. Like it's no big deal. Well it is a big deal for me, okay, I'm not strong enough to deal with that. It took me years just to..." Padma looked down so Theo couldn't see her eyes get watery. "Gods, this is humiliating. You are the person in the world I least want to admit these things to. When you're here, you muddle things up, worse than they usually are. I just can't be around you and be indifferent."

"So you don't want to see me. Can I see you tomorrow or should I skip the wedding?" Theo asked.

"No, of course not, but please, after tomorrow, don't do this to me anymore." With that Padma turned and made her trek back to the house.

* * *

><p>The wedding had gone off perfectly. Neville had stuttered through his vows of course, which made everyone laugh, and her mother had been sobbing quietly for the entirety of the ceremony. Parvati and Neville looked perfect together, beautiful and strong, ready to face the world and build a family together. Neville's grandmother was ecstatic, and wouldn't stop bragging about her grandson and his beautiful wife to whomever would listen. Fortunately for Padma she had managed to just avoid catching the bouquet as a very eager Lavender dove in front of her, thank goodness. Padma did not want anyone else asking her when it was going to be her turn.<p>

And now here they were, dancing and celebrating. She was doing a five-legged dance with her steadfast boyfriend-stand-in, Seamus, and his cane. "You are surprisingly good at this Seamus, you know given the stick."

"Well, I work hard to please you, your highness," Seamus responded sarcastically. "If I abandon you for the rest of the evening, would you forgive me?"

"Of course, but you'll owe me," Padma smiled back. "Who's the girl then?"

"Your friend Amy," Seamus said. "She seems really nice. She's grown up right beautiful."

"I like her, you be nice to her!" Padma warned him.

"Aren't I always?"

"You know very well that you are not," Padma said giving him a hug and sending him off.

Padma couldn't help it. Standing alone, her eyes sought him out. She knew he had been there and had said her polite hellos, but had managed to ignore him for much of the evening, trying to stick to her resolution to move on. When her eyes finally found him, standing off to the side, close to the door of the tent, his eyes were already staring back at her. She shuddered involuntarily, sending a slight wave through the thin silk of her green bridesmaid's dress. Another of Parvati's creations, the dress was utterly feminine, and draped down to the floor in a Grecian style. Incredibly small beads were worked throughout the dress, and the skirt was mostly sheer starting at mid-thigh, silhouetting Padma's legs and strappy sandals. Her hair cascaded in curls down her back. She stood stock still, unable to move or look away as he walked towards her.

"Dance with me," he demanded when he finally reached her. Padma was offering her hand before she knew what was happening, and he was holding her close as he guided them slowly and gracefully through the steps.

"You look beautiful, as you always do," Theo said.

"Theo," Padma blushed. "I'm sorry for becoming so emotional yesterday."

"Don't be, I would never want you to be too scared to tell me how you feel about us."

"Feel about us? Theo, there isn't really an us," Padma admonished.

"Perhaps that's how you feel. But I don't want to accept a life without you in it. I haven't given up on you yet." Theo pulled her closer, and Padma felt the warmth from his neck on her face. She didn't know what to say, but at that moment simply wanted to accept his words and melt into him. He smelled perfect, the same as he had done years ago. Before she knew it she had nestled into him, and didn't pull back until the music had ended. Embarrassed of what she had been doing, she glanced around quickly, just in time to see Parvati looking away smiling to herself.

"Thanks for the dance," Padma said swiftly backing out of his arms.

"Not so fast," Theo said drawing her back in. "If you're banishing me from your life starting tomorrow, you could at least give me one more dance, or better yet one more evening together."

"What are you asking for exactly?"

"Exactly what you've always wanted from me Padma—a date."

Padma looked up at his face, and he looked back at her seriously, his hazel eyes both open and penetrating. She said nothing, so he continued, "Spend this evening with me. The reception will be over soon, come away with me."

"All right," Padma agreed, her resolve to stay away from this troublesome man melting away.

They remained together for the remainder of the evening, so engrossed in each other, that they missed Parvati's knowing smiles and her father's softening glares. Soon enough, Parvati and Neville were saying their farewells to the gathering, and were heading off on their honeymoon to Tibet. Apparently there were both fascinating plant life and textile markets to enjoy, besides all the natural beauty.

Padma managed to corner Parvati on her way out. "Did you invite Theo to try to get us together?"

Parvati gave Padma an exasperated look. "What, moi?"

"Come on Parvati, what is going on here?"

"I have absolutely no agenda. I invited him because he's your friend, and though I don't particularly like him, I know that you do. You make your own choices Padma, but know that I'll support you whatever you choose." Neville came up to them just then and grasped Parvati's hand.

"I'm afraid it's time for me to take my wife away," Neville hugged Padma with his free arm with a huge grin plastered across his face. "Take care of yourself Padma!" They both waved ecstatically as they fled out the door while rice and flowers rained down on them from a hundred drawn wands.

Before long, Padma found herself being guided outside, into the warm night air. Theo led them to a small gate in the wall surrounding the property next to which stood two brooms.

Padma looked at him quizzically. "I told you that if I took you on a date, we'd go flying," Theo said smirking.

"But look at how I'm dressed," Padma voiced her concern.

Theo picked up a small bag he had left with the brooms and rummaged inside for a light set of flying robes that he tossed to Padma. "Those should work."

Padma opened the robes and held them to her body, they were just the right length, with a split skirt. She began to undo the clasp on her dress to change. "Aren't you going to turn around?" she asked Theo.

"No, I don't think so," he answered, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" Padma admonished, while divesting herself of her beautiful dress, leaving her in just her green underwear. Older now, she managed to finish changing without blushing.

When she turned around, Theo actually looked serious as he said handed her a broom. He kissed her very lightly on her cheek, his fingers lingering on her neck. "You have more scars than I knew. I'm sorry."

"Oh, I'm so used to them, I didn't think. I didn't mean for you to see," Padma was so embarrassed. She had let herself get swept up, and had forgotten how unsightly parts of her were now, and trusted Theo to see them, and the spontaneous romantic moment had come crashing back down to bleak reality.

But Theo smiled again to her surprise. "You'll always be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," he said hugging her tightly.

Padma smiled despite herself, "Are you taking me flying or what?"

"Yes of course, we're not going too far." He kicked off lightly from the ground, before rising up higher and turning away from the house, Padma following closely behind.

* * *

><p>He was true to his promise, and they soon landed gently in a clearing near the ocean after flying for about twenty minutes. The air grew saltier on their flight, the lights along the road and in homes twinkled below them. It had been ages since she last flew, and Padma felt exhilarated. Though they flew side by side, they didn't talk and Padma's mind was completely free to ponder her current situation. Was she really on a date with Theodore Nott? After all this time? No war, no danger, no disapproving anyone. Just her and him and no complications. They had so much baggage, but for some reason, as the warm night air rushed past her, she found it increasingly easy to ignore. She just wanted to be with him. Talk to him. Be close to him.<p>

After landing, Padma looked around to see a campsite already built, with a small fire, a blanket, provisions, and a cozy looking tent nearby. "I sent one of my house-elves ahead of course," Theo said. "I figured we could just spend some time here alone together."

Padma dropped her broomstick unceremoniously as she jogged along the sand towards and campsite, and used her wand to undo her sandals, which she also left haphazardly along her path. She was eager to feel the sand under her feet before making her way over to the campsite and flopping down onto the blanket. Dear gods, this was perfect, she thought. She rolled over onto her stomach to watch Theo approaching, wondering what he was thinking.

He crouched down in front of her, looking her in the eye. "Would you like something to drink? Some champagne?"

"No," Padma replied, kicking her feet back and forth through the warm night air. "I had enough at the wedding, and something tells me that I'll need my wits about me with you tonight."

"What, you don't trust me?" Theo lay down next to her, staring up at the sky, his hands underneath his head, cushioning it against the blanket.

"Well, this is a sudden change. You were gone, I didn't hear from you for months, and suddenly you're back, being all romantic, despite me telling you to leave me alone," Padma's tone turned somber, as if she had suddenly remembered her resolution to stay away from Theo. "I'm not really sure what changed and what your intentions are."

A heavy silence hung between the two, as Padma waited for Theo to respond. He stared into her eyes and said nothing and finally just reached out, slipping his hand through Padma's hair to hold her neck as he pulled her down to him and kissed her passionately. She was momentarily surprised before melting into him. Being with him was heady, intoxicating, and she felt herself losing control. His gentle kisses became stronger as he flipped them over, and any rational thought she had of stopping them was quickly subsumed by other feelings. Heat was spreading through her body, until even her toes felt flush. Every part of her felt restless, shivering and straining, even though her mind was calm. It was as if she had been waiting for him, for this, all these years, even though she didn't know it. Once he broke away, to kiss her cheek and neck, she opened her eyes, seeing the stars in the night sky, and her doubts fought their way to the front of her mind, reminding her she was more in danger of losing herself now than she had ever been. She loved him, she loved him still, with every fiber of her being. And she panicked. "I can't, I can't do this," she tried to scream out, but it escaped only as a whisper.

Theo paused, still breathing heavily, looking as effected as Padma, "What?"

Confusion roiled across Padma's face in waves, until she covered her face with her hands trying to hide her warring feelings. He wrenched her hands apart and said, "Padma, I'm in love with you. Have been since I was about fourteen I think. You were the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful girl I ever saw. Far too good for me. Plus you were on the other side of the divide. I wouldn't have dreamt at that age that you would ever have been interested in me, You belonged with some overly handsome heroic type, not scrawny surly me. I don't think you'll ever be able to understand how much I despise myself for the things I've done, this horrid mark on my arm. It'll taint me forever. The last thing I want to do is drag you down with me, but I'm a selfish man. I've dreamt of you every night for the last five years, I'm obsessed with you. I want you. And if there's even the slightest chance you love me back and would accept me I have to take it. Padma, I know I can't offer you everything you deserve, but I swear I will spend my life trying to build us the life you deserve." A ring with a beautiful blue diamond and flowers intricately cast around the band appeared in his hand and he gently pushed it onto her quivering finger. "I am so sorry for everything I put you through, but you have to understand that the thought of being with you makes life worth living again for me. Would you marry me Padma?"

Padma was shaking uncontrollably at this point, she was so stunned. She finally managed to stammer out, "But—but, how would this work? I mean are you serious? You can't be serious? You aren't serious are you? But how could we get married?"

"I want to marry you. The question is do you love me, love me enough to marry me?" Theo's hazel eyes were wide open, waiting for her response.

_Oh gods, he is serious. Their friends would hate each other. She shouldn't marry him, she should have married a nice guy, not him. Parvati had always said so. And since when had she heeded Parvati's advice? Think, she couldn't think. Oh, bloody hell, what should she do? Obviously, she should say no and run away. That was what she should do right? And go where, and do what? There was a huge Theo-sized hole in her life. But that didn't mean he could just step back into it and everything would be fixed, that they would live happily ever after. Maybe there was no happily ever after for her. She loved him, she did, desperately, she knew that. But what would life together be like exactly? What if her friends and family all turned on her? What about his friends? They might try to kill her or something someday. That would be just wonderful, exactly what married life was supposed to be like, trying to avoid getting murdered by your husbands' best mates. But he would protect her, surely. She trusted him, but he couldn't really take on the whole world. That was just something foolish teenagers say to each other when they fall in love, when they have no concept of just how helpless most of us are in real life. There surely were an immense number of reasons to reject his proposal._

_ But what were the positive reasons to accept. She was a lawyer. She could analyze this situation. There was the fact that she couldn't love anyone else, and therefore was unlikely to be romantically happy with anyone else. But romance wasn't everything, she had a lovely family, and good friends, and a fulfilling career. Hell, most of the most famous wizards and witches had never married at all. She could be like one of them. Like McGonagall or someone. Wait, wait focus on the positives. She might have a family of her own with him someday. That would be nice. She wouldn't be so lonely, also nice. If Seamus got himself a proper girlfriend and couldn't be her date anymore, she wouldn't have to go stag to anything. She would be able to bring Theo—her husband—the Death Eater—former resident of Azkaban. Yup, that would be just perfect at all the formal Ministry Affairs. She could hear the crickets chirping already. Wait, wasn't she supposed to be listing the positives?_

She looked up into his eyes, and her thoughts stopped. And she knew her answer, it was the only answer she could give really.

"Yes."


End file.
